


Revisionist History

by Penny_P



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-07-07
Packaged: 2020-06-24 00:44:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 42,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19712863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penny_P/pseuds/Penny_P
Summary: Decades after Voyager's return to the Alpha Quadrant, reporter/writer Jake Sisko tries to learn the truth about the ship's adventure and its key personnel.





	1. Heroic Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> This was written between the end of season 6 and the start of season 7, when it was clear that the series would ultimately fail to live up to its potential (in my opinion). It was intended to be consistent with canon through the end of season 6, so there are some inconsistencies with what ultimately happened, such as the gender of Tom and B'Elanna's first child. Originally, Chapter 1 was a stand-alone story, but someone asked me what else happened, and I became obsessed with the idea of writing something that could plausibly include characters from the previous Trek series. The chapter titles are all taken from "Ulysses" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. It's rated mature for adult themes and occasional vulgar language.

"So, do you want the official version, or the truth?"

Jake Sisko studied Thomas E. Paris, Cmdr., UFPSF, Retired. The man was famous for his attitude even at the age of 95, and for the first time Jake understood why. Before this, in the few times they had encountered one another, Jake had found Paris to be dignified and courteous, leaving Jake to wonder why his career had stalled. Paris’s skill as a pilot and a teacher of pilots was also famous; despite a rocky start he should have retired as at least a captain, if not an admiral. Now, looking at the cocky smile and cynical blue eyes, it began to make more sense.

Thomas E. Paris, Cmdr., UFPSF, Retired, didn’t bother to hide his disdain for people or situations he did not respect. And that, Jake reflected, probably included more than half the Admiralty.

It was disconcerting to think that Paris regarded Jake in the same light. After a lifetime of dealing with Starfleet, though, he knew how to respond. "I want what you are willing to tell me. Will it be the official version, or the truth?"

For just a second, he thought he had made a mistake. Paris’s eyes narrowed slightly, and the false smile drooped. Then he laughed, genuine laughter that transformed him so that he looked almost young again. "What are you hoping to find out?"

"The truth," Jake said automatically, but immediately saw that answer was not sufficient. It forced him to think for a moment. What exactly was driving him to pursue this line of questioning? "I met Captain Janeway, you know. Once, at Deep Space 9 just before Voyager disappeared. A few times over the years after you were back. I liked her. And I don’t think Green’s version of her is accurate."

"Accurate?" Paris snorted. "He paints her as a sex-starved paranoid martinet, which is about as accurate as his depiction of the rest of us. That book is a travesty."

"Most of his books are," Jake said quietly. "But most of them stand unrefuted. I don’t want him to have the last word on Voyager, or Captain Janeway. But I don’t want to do a whitewash, either. I want to tell the truth."

Paris was silent for a moment. When he spoke, it was with deliberation. "Julian Bashir says I can trust you, and I trust Julian Bashir. So. You’re writing a biography of the Captain." Paris did not, Jake noted, use her name. Either he assumed it was understood, or else for Paris, there was only one Captain. Jake suspected the latter.

"Yes. And as I explained, I’ve reviewed all the records pertaining to Voyager’s time in the Delta quadrant, and somehow they just don’t ring true." He paused, then added, "I’m no fan of Starfleet’s public image department. I want to know the *real* Kathryn Janeway. She must have been a remarkable person."

"She was." Paris leaned back in his chair, picked up his glass of scotch. From the fumes, it wasn’t synthehol. "And you want to know about the relationship between the Captain and the first officer. Well, the official version is that they were friends, good friends, for the whole damn time we were in the Delta quadrant."

"I’ve seen the records." Jake thought about how much work was summarized in those few words. He had devoted months to studying trial transcripts, reports, mission logs and personal logs. "Somehow they don’t ring true, especially in light of what happened later."

Paris sipped his drink, not taking his eyes from Jake. "I’ll tell you the truth. There’s damned few of us left who know the truth, now." His face clouded for a moment. "B’Elanna knew. She’d probably turn cartwheels in Sto-Vo-Kor if she knew I was going to talk about this with anyone."

B’Elanna. Paris’s wife, Jake recalled, who died four months ago.

"And Tuvok. I should warn you now, Tuvok will probably dispute everything I’m going to tell you. And he’ll be lying through his teeth, because in his mind it is more logical to protect the Captain’s reputation than to tell the truth. He's still devoted to her, even now."

Jake pulled out his notepadd and began jotting. "Then the official version isn’t accurate?"

"Let’s just say the official version is…incomplete. All right then, the truth it is. Pour yourself a drink, Jake. This is likely to take a while."

Jake pulled out his notepadd and poured a glass of scotch, liberally diluted with water. "Just begin at the beginning."

A smile spread over Paris’s face. "That’s exactly when it began. At the beginning."

**  
_Paris stood to one side as Janeway and members of the bridge crew drew weapons. The transporter hummed, and three men, weapons raised, materialized in defensive position, each facing a different direction. His stomach tensed as he recognized three former shipmates. Ayala was aiming directly at him; Tuvok faced Kim, and Chakotay was almost nose to nose with Janeway._

_No one moved. No one spoke._

_Even for an apparent standoff, this seemed to take a long time. He looked at the Captain. She was staring at Chakotay, her face unreadable. He was staring at her and looking stunned. It could be that he was surprised to find himself in a trap, but surely, Paris thought, he had expected something, or he wouldn’t have come aboard armed._

_Good god, he thought. It’s not the weapons. It’s her._

**

"Wait a moment," Jake interrupted. "Are you saying they were … smitten… at first sight?"

"There’s an old expression, the 'coup d’foudre,' the thunderbolt." Paris seemed lost in the recollection. "That’s exactly what happened to them. Instant, powerful attraction. It was palpable."

"But I’ve seen Tuvok’s account of that first encounter, as well as the mission log. Nothing remotely close to that is reported."

"Of course not. One thing you need to understand is the extent to which Tuvok is devoted to the Captain, even now. He would never allow anything to tarnish her image unfairly. It didn’t affect the events that followed in any way. I suspect that he decided that the sexual tension that manifested on the bridge just then was an irrelevant detail that might confuse weak minds. It would have been logical to omit it."

"But later – I assume you’re going to tell me that something did come of it eventually – Tuvok continued to cover it up?"

Paris nodded. "Yes. At least, I assume so. He and I have never discussed this. In fact, the only person I ever discussed this with was B’Elanna. She suspected that the Captain confided in Tuvok." He took another sip. "Even if she didn’t, Tuvok knew everything that happened on that ship. One way or the other, he knew."

"Well." That was interesting. "Please, go on."

"I’m pretty certain that the attraction did not play a part in the Captain’s decision to offer Chakotay the position as first officer. That really was a matter of necessity. I think, though, that it may have been a factor in his decision to accept – I mean, really accept and not use the position as a ruse to take the ship. You have to remember, things were pretty dicey at first. A lot of the Maquis didn’t like being conscripted into Starfleet and thought they could take over. If Chakotay had wanted to, he could have mounted a pretty effective insurrection."

"But he didn’t, because he was in love with Janeway?"

He considered. "When you say it like that, it doesn’t do him justice. Chakotay was an honorable man, and once he gave his word, he kept it. I do think that his feelings for the Captain helped tip his decision to accept the offer."

Jake nodded. "Janeway was engaged to be married, wasn’t she?"

"That’s right. And I think that’s the biggest reason why at first she wouldn’t let anything happen between her and Chakotay. The Captain was extremely loyal."

"Maybe she wasn’t as attracted as you think."

Paris laughed lightly. "Don’t you believe it. When she let her guard down, it was almost painfully obvious that she was drawn to him." He set his glass down and looked thoughtful. "At first, it was just little things, like the way she would touch him. She was a touchy person by nature, so it took a while to notice that she touched him more often than anyone else. Not much, just a hand on his arm or his shoulder while they talked. But when she touched him… her face would change. So would his. It was almost as if, for that moment, they were completely alone with each other. The rest of us just dropped out of the universe."

Jake smiled. "I felt that way about a girl once. I was sixteen, and she was a dabo girl at the bar."

"Good analogy. I think they were both as infatuated as a couple of teenagers, then. But they were completely professional on duty, and at that point I’d be surprised if they even acknowledged it off duty. The whole situation was too new. We were all learning to trust one another, and to find our balance in the Delta quadrant. And too, Chakotay did a couple of things early on that didn’t help him with her."

"Oh?"

Paris poured himself another drink, but this time added water. "Chakotay had … a knight-in-shining-armor streak. A couple of times he decided he would try to handle things by himself to spare the ship and the Captain."

"I can’t quite picture Kathryn Janeway as a damsel in distress."

"Neither could she." Paris smiled. "And, then, Chakotay was really angry when he found out that he’d been kept out of the loop about the spy on board. In fact, that was the catalyst, the thing that finally forced their feelings. "

**  
_Voices. Angry voices. Paris stirred, realized he was lying on a hard wooden bench. He sat up and discovered that he was still in Sandrine’s; he had fallen asleep after Harry left. The room was dimmed, the way Sandrine left it when she retired for the evening, and he looked around. The voices belonged to the Captain and the Commander, who were the only two people in the place._

_"…that’s the point." The Commander was standing very close to her, his voice raised and angry. Then he seemed to deflate. His voice was softer and filled with hurt when he spoke again. "You still don’t trust me."_

_The Captain sucked in her breath audibly. Paris couldn’t see her face in the dim light, but from the way the tension left her shoulders, he guessed that her anger had evaporated too. Her hand reached up to his shoulder. "But I do trust you. I always have."_

_For a moment, neither moved. Then Chakotay took her face in his hands and said softly, "Kathryn," and kissed her._

_He raised his head, and looked at her. She wound her arms around him and pulled him close. They moved together and began another kiss, and even in the dim light, Tom could tell it was hungry and urgent._

_Stifling a groan of frustration, Tom lay back on the bench and closed his eyes. What was he going to do? Pop up and clear his throat? Keep his eyes closed and pretend he was still asleep? Neither would do his career much good. Life was a hell of a lot simpler back in New Zealand._

_After a moment he heard the Captain murmur, "No," and then "We can’t do this, Chakotay."_

_The Commander’s breathing was ragged. "All right."_

_"Oh, god, don’t look like that."_

_"Kathryn, I understand. But that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it."_

_"I’m engaged. I made a promise to Mark."_

_It was a long moment before Chakotay replied. "I know. And I won’t ask you to dishonor it."_

_"Thank you."_

_"But," he added quickly, "will you tell me something? If Mark weren’t an issue, what would you do?"_

_This time she took a long moment to reply. "I don’t know."_

_"It wouldn’t be against regulations, you know. It’s only a recommendation, not rule."_

_"But it’s a good one. Chakotay, look at the situation we are in. We owe the crew better than to gamble our professional relationship for the sake of our personal happiness."_

_"I don’t think it would be much of a gamble. We understand each other, Kathryn."_

_"Perhaps. But what happens if we try and fail? Neither of us can leave the ship, can we? Can we?"_

_"No. But why are you assuming our relationship would fail?"_

_Her voice became pointed. "What happened to your relationship with Seska?"_

_Bull's-eye, Tom thought as he scrunched in the booth._

_"You’re not Seska," Chakotay replied quietly._

_"No, but I am the captain of this ship, and I can't take the risk."_

_Tom almost winced at the pain in her voice. For months, he had been watching them, waiting almost gleefully for this day. Now, for the first time he realized the full implications of a relationship between a captain and a first officer in circumstances in which there were no transfers, but an imperative need for unity in the command team. Suddenly their feelings for one another seemed tragic._

_"Then we won’t." Chakotay sounded resigned. "Come on, I’ll buy you a cup of coffee in the mess hall. Let the crew see that we’ve patched up our differences."_

_She must have nodded, because they started to leave. Tom was about to ease back up when he heard her say, "Chakotay."_

_"Yes?"_

_"Nothing. Just… Chakotay."_

**

"It was something of a revelation for me," Paris admitted. "Until then, I had assumed that they were as free to pursue their feelings as the rest of us. After that, I felt sorry for them. In fact, I felt so bad about the whole thing that when we had to leave them on New Earth a few weeks later, I almost was glad for them."

"New Earth," Jake said. "That was the planet where they were quarantined for about eight weeks, right?"

"Right, except that when we left them there, we didn’t know we would be coming back for them. All of us, including them, thought that we were leaving them there forever."

Jake’s mind rummaged through the myriad details it had absorbed about Voyager in the past several months. "As I recall, the decision to go back for them turned out to be the event that unified the crew once and for all. After that, there doesn’t seem to be any friction between the Starfleet and Maquis factions."

"Exactly. We were all so upset by Tuvok’s refusal to ask the Vidiians for help that all our differences were resolved." Paris rose and walked to a replicator but continued to talk. "In the meantime – 6 grams mixed nuts, in a bowl - the Captain and Chakotay were working out their differences, too." He grinned as he picked an almond from the mix as he returned to the table.

Jake helped himself to a handful. "Here's the problem, Commander. I’ve been over their logs a couple of times. There is no indication that they became romantically involved during that quarantine."

"And I have no proof that they did," Paris admitted. "Nothing but instinct. I remember when they first returned to the bridge. They were all business, brisk and efficient – but they wouldn’t look at each other. I mean, they were sitting next to each other, talking to each other, but staring at the viewscreen. It was almost as if they were afraid what they would reveal if they made eye contact.

"And I’ll tell you this – they were lovers for about a year after that. That, I am absolutely certain of."

**  
_Tom hadn’t slept well since the rescue from the Akitirian prison ship. The Doctor certainly would have given him something if he asked, but he didn’t want to ask. There had been a dark time in his life when he had relied on alcohol and drugs for almost everything, to sleep, to wake, to feel, to not feel… even though his life had turned around, he didn’t want to risk slipping into that cycle again._

_So he walked. During the deep hours of gamma shift, there was little traffic in the corridors and he could walk deck after deck without encountering more than one or two people. Most of them were on duty, but a few were trying to slip unnoticed back to their own quarters after a date or more serious engagement with another crew member._

_Voyager was small enough that privacy was highly prized but hard to maintain. Many of the crew, including Tom, had adopted an unwritten code that certain things just never happened, such as bumping into someone leaving someone else’s quarters in odd hours. On the whole, it saved everyone a lot of embarrassment. So, when Kaplan nearly knocked Tom over as she left O’Connell’s cabin, he didn’t make eye contact with her at all, just kept walking._

_But when Chakotay walked out of the captain’s cabin, he froze._

_It was 0330, for pete’s sake. There was nothing going on that required the captain and the first officer to be working late. Tom was so nonplussed that he ducked down a darkened side corridor before Chakotay spotted him._

_As the Commander walked by, he was smiling the smile of a satisfied man._

**

"That’s all?" Jake asked, somehow disappointed.

"It was enough for me," Paris said. Completely relaxed, he leaned back in his chair and picked his way through the dish of nuts. He had a preference for almonds and cashews. "For almost that whole year, they were happy. Until we encountered the Borg – I mean, really encountered them, and species 8472. Something happened between them then. We never knew what it was, but things were different between them for a long time."

"You know Green's explanation – Riley Frazer."

"Bullshit. I don't know the details of it, but I know enough to tell you, unequivocally, that the Riley Frazer incident had nothing to do with it. The problem was that they had their first professional disagreement, and they didn't handle it well."

"How do you know?"

Paris looked sad. "I shouldn't know. It was not something they intended anyone to overhear. It was few months after that, when we were trying to recover from the aliens who used us for 'medical' experiments. I think they forgot that I was there, in the Doctor's office. I was his assistant, you know – after Kes left us. Chakotay had come to be cleared for duty, and the Captain came in for a status report…as soon as they saw each other, I think they forgot about everything else."

**

_She walked straight to the bed where he was waiting. "How are you?"_

_"Ready to report to duty, if I can just get the Doctor's attention."_

_Her expression softened as she looked at him; the command mask melted into something softer, something almost tender. She touched his hair, already darker and longer than it had been before. "You're looking better."_

_Every muscle tensed, froze, at her touch. "I'm feeling better, thank you, Captain."_

_Her hand jerked back, as if he had slapped her, but her face did not change. "I'm glad."_

_He stared at her, obviously trying to be angry with her. Then his face almost crumpled. "Gods, Kathryn, I miss you."_

_"And I miss you." Her face was stoic, devoid of emotion, but her voice almost throbbed._

_"But that doesn't change anything."_

_"It could. We disagreed, Kathryn, that's all. It's going to happen sometimes. It's not a betrayal." There was such longing on his face. "Can't we try again?"_

_Before she could answer, the Doctor came out of the surgical area then. "Captain, Commander, I apologize for keeping you waiting."_

_She straightened, and the command mask slipped back into place effortlessly. "Under the circumstances, Doctor, no apology is necessary. I came for a status report, but I can see that you are busy. Please call me when you are free."_  
_"Of course."_

_A command smile: polite, forced. "Good. Commander, I'm glad you're feeling better." Then she left, and Chakotay watched her until the doors closed behind her. She had answered his question._

_**_

"They broke it off?" Jake asked.

Paris nodded. "Yeah. B- … some people thought the whole thing with the Borg made them feel that they couldn't manage a personal relationship without messing up the command relationship. They both felt so damn responsible for all of us…" he took a healthy swig from his glass. "Personally, I think they were scared stiff."

"What do you mean?"

"I think they discovered that they loved each other more completely and more deeply than either of them believed possible. I think they were afraid that it was some kind of weakness to feel that way."

Jake considered this for a moment. "They were both pretty self-contained people, weren't they?"

"You bet. It must have been a terrifying thing to realize that someone else could be that important to them."

Flipping through his mental file of facts and dates, Jake tried to place the event in context. "Okay, they broke up. That was right before you encountered the Hirogen, wasn’t it?"

"A few months."

"According to Green, that’s the period when she became clinically depressed. He claims she worked so hard to repress normal emotions that she became irrational."

To his surprise, Paris looked away. His gaze seemed to be fixed on something in the distant mountain range to the east. Finally he said, "He’s not altogether wrong about that. She was depressed for a while. Hell, we all were. But it wasn’t because she was jilted by her fiancé. She was feeling guilty as hell about just about everything – about the destruction of the communications array, about letting the Hirogen board the ship, about getting involved with Chakotay. When we hit the Void, it all came crashing down on her and she wouldn’t let the one person who might have been able to help her come near."

"Chakotay."

"Right the first time." He swirled the scotch around in the glass but did not drink it. "They had a hard time figuring out how to be just friends. I know exactly when it happened, though. Exactly."

**

_They were in the mess hall, all the senior officers except Seven and the Doctor, celebrating the successful negotiation of a trade agreement with the Kati. It had been touch and go for a while, but in the end, the combined efforts of Neelix and the Captain pulled it off._

_The Captain was describing her three days on the planet while she ate her third dessert. "It’s a remarkably barren planet," she said between bites of terra nut soufflé. "No wonder they embrace a Spartan lifestyle – there’s not much else to do there."_

_"It is conducive to thoughtful meditation, however," Tuvok noted. "I found the experience enlightening."_

_Chakotay looked across the table at her. "What about you, Captain? Did you find enlightenment?"_

_It might have been impertinent, except that Tom knew they had been joking about it earlier. The Captain had made no bones about the fact that she could tolerate meditation only in small doses. But she looked at him thoughtfully. "There was one thing about being there. When you can’t have what you want, you learn to appreciate what you have."_

_Their eye had locked, and an awkward silence fell. Every one of us had the feeling that she had just said something more than the meaning of the words. Then she smiled, that rare wonderful smile of hers that had been AWOL for months._

_Chakotay smiled back at her. It was plain that at that moment, he didn't see anything but her._

_Still holding his gaze, the Captain spooned out another bite of dessert. "Like…terra nut soufflé," she said, and without warning, flung the contents of her spoon at Chakotay._

_The soufflé landed on the tip of his nose and dripped on to his chest, but he didn't stop looking at her. She, on the other hand, dropped her spoon and covered her mouth with both hands, looking like someone who gave into an impulse and immediately regretted it. "Oh, Chakotay, I'm sorry," she said, but her eyes weren't sorry. Her eyes were laughing._

_His never left hers as he reached beside him and took the dish of Ktarian pudding away from B'Elanna. "I understand completely, Captain." He was so solemn that it almost didn't register that as he spoke, his hand scooped out all the pudding in the dish and hurled it at her. It struck her squarely on the chest. He smiled peacefully as he watched the sticky trail of pudding dripped down each of her breasts on her dress uniform._

_Mischief danced in her eyes then, making them sparkle. She looked down, then back to him. "This is war, you know."_

_She grabbed the ice cream cone Harry was eating and turned it into a rocket, aimed at Chakotay. He ducked, and it hit Tuvok on the arm. She grabbed the banana split out of Tom's hands even as Chakotay reached for Neelix's fudge cake. This time they hit each other smack in the face._

_Then they both began to laugh, freely and unrestrained, with no trace of self-consciousness. Belly-deep, genuine laughter. It was so good to hear, and so unexpected after all the tense months, that they began to laugh with them. Even Tuvok almost smiled._

_**_

Jake was scribbling frantically into the notepadd. "So. First lust, then love, then friendship. Did it change again before Voyager got home? Did they get back together?"

"Ahh. The big question." Paris smiled slowly, a lazy, sardonic smile. "Here's the truth, Jake, my friend: I don't know. I just don't know."

"Don't give me that. You might not be certain, but you've got an idea."

The smile became a grin. "I've got an idea, all right. But it's based on secondhand information. I've got nothing firsthand to back it up, so it's probably best if I keep it to myself."

There was finality in his tone, and Jake heard it. He downed the contents of his glass, and with a dramatic flair, closed the notepadd. "Off the record, then. What's your source and what do you think?"

Paris leaned back in his chair. "Off the record? All right, my source…remember, the Captain, Tuvok and B'Elanna were assimilated into the Collective late in our sixth year out. They were part of a single mind the whole time they were drones. So I consider my source to be pretty reliable.

"What do I think? The night before Tuvok, B'Elanna and the Captain went to get themselves assimilated, I think Chakotay spent the night doing exactly what I did."

"Which was…?"

"Making love to my woman as if it were the very last time." His face softened, and Jake suspected that Paris was no longer thinking about Captain Janeway. "As if…as if there would never be another time, and we needed to have everything settled between us."

Then he shook his head once, seemingly to clear out cobwebs. He reached for the bottle and poured one more glass for each of them. "To love," he said, raising his glass, and Jake followed suit.

"To love." He drained the burning liquor in one gulp, as did Paris, and when Paris tossed the glass against the wall, he did, too.

The interview was over; Jake knew that without any further signals. He picked up his equipment and stood. "Thank you, Commander."

Paris looked at him intently, his blue eyes keen and sharp. "Do right by her, Sisko. "

Jake Sisko nodded.

-To Be Continued -


	2. These Barren Crags

Jake Sisko looked around the cluttered office of Reginald Barclay, special consultant to Starfleet Engineering, and began to doubt the wisdom of his trip to Jupiter Station. Barclay was known to be eccentric, but somehow Jake thought he would be more organized. Miles O’Brien, who had worked with Barclay on the Enterprise-D before coming to DS9, had warned him that Barclay was brilliant but lacking much skill in social interaction. "He’s a good guy," O’Brien had said, "once you get to know him. The problem is, he’s a genius. You ever known a real genius, Jake? They’re brilliant, but they’re all a pain in the butt one way or another. Zimmerman, his mentor, just plain hated people. Barclay doesn’t hate people, but I think he’s scared of ‘em sometimes. Let him get comfortable with you. Once he warms up, he’s OK."

Based on that, Jake had expected to find a meticulously clean office, a reflection of a mind that prized mathematical precision above human interaction. The room into which he had been ushered was so cluttered that he had to lift a stack of padds and old-fashioned books off a chair in order to sit. Every possible surface – desk, shelves, chairs, floor – abounded with piles and mounds and clumps of papers, padds, engineering tools, and bric-a-brac. As he looked around, one piece of the latter caught his eye: a model of the USS Voyager. Jake studied it carefully, noting the attention to detail. Even the scar on the outer hull that showed repairs after the Hirogen incident had been painstakingly replicated.

"What do you think?" a voice asked.

Although he hadn’t heard anyone come in, Jake didn’t react. He knew Barclay’s voice from countless reports. "It’s an amazing replica. Better than the one at the Starfleet Museum."

"I think so, too." The older man came to stand beside him. "Look, I made sure you can see the scorch marks from the Borg attack under the paint. They didn’t do that at the Museum. They said it detracted from the ship’s appearance."

The old man looked at him, waiting for a comment. He was tall and thin, with a few wisps of white hair pulled across the top of his head. Jake had the sense he was being tested. "They’re fools, then. Or else they intended to detract from what the ship endured. Those scorch marks are a testament to their accomplishments."

Barclay grinned. "Yes. Yes, exactly. Sit down, Mr. Sisko." As Jake sat, Barclay removed what appeared to be a bowl of fruit from his desk chair. He waved it in the air for a moment, and then set in on a stack of padds that appeared fairly stable.

"Now, where were we? Oh, yes. Tom Paris says you’re writing a biography of Captain Janeway. I don’t know how I can help you. I didn’t know her very well. My, uh, contact, was mostly with the Doctor. The EMH, that is."

"I’d like to focus on the events surrounding Voyager’s return. You were part of Project Pathfinder and Project Voyager. You may have some insights which would be useful."

"Oh. Of course. Well, let’s see. I suppose the place to start would be when we first made contact…no, no, you want to talk about when they came home. That really began with the message. We were in contact with Voyager about once every six weeks then, and we’d just sent our regular message off. We weren’t expecting the reply that came back."

**  
_"Starfleet, this is Janeway. We have located a subspace tunnel that we believe leads back to the Alpha quadrant. As soon as we complete a reconfiguration of our shields, we’re going in. With any luck, our next contact will be to tell you that we are home. Janeway out."_  
**

"The Chah-mooz-ee Tunnel." Jake nodded, marveling again at the story. In November of 2379, late in its seventh year in the Delta quadrant, Voyager came across what appeared to be an intersection of two subspace tunnels. Fearing that it was part of the Vaadwaur tunnel system, Janeway ordered a probe to be launched behind them, to track its origin. Not only was it not part of the Vaadwaur system, the probe emerged at a planet Voyager had visited more than six years before: the home planet of the People of the Wind. Chakotay then realized that the chah-mooz-ee design that his people had preserved for millennia as a sacred symbol was actually a star map. Using his own sacred stone as a guide, they had calculated that the long tunnel had egress in the Alpha quadrant.

The tunnels did not occur naturally; they had been constructed eons before and had not been used or maintained for thousands of years. There were unmistakable signs of decay and Janeway figured that the window of opportunity to use the tunnel was closing fast. They took two days to completely reconfigure their shields to handle the pressures and radiation levels within the tunnel, and then they dove in.

"Exactly," Barclay said. "We tried to reach them again, but there was no response. For three days, we all held our breath. Well, not literally. Well, maybe I did, off and on. And maybe Admiral Paris. Off and on, of course - we would have died if we really held our breath for three days. We didn’t leave the control room, though. Commander Harkins and Admiral Paris and I – we stayed there, day and night, waiting to hear something." He smiled at the memory. "We didn’t even leave to shower. That’s when I realized that I’d finally belonged in the project, Mr. Sisko. When the brass are willing to be around you after three days with no shower, you know you’re part of the team."

Jake smiled. "But then--?"

"Oh, yes. Then, late the third day – I remember it was late because Admiral Paris always called his wife at 2200 and he’d been back for a while – a message came in on the Pathfinder frequency."

**  
_"Starfleet Command, this is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the USS Voyager. It was a rough ride, but we made it. We are presently located 9.75 light years from Wolf 359. Warp engines are offline, but repairs are underway. We will proceed to Earth at best possible speed. Voyager is coming home."_

_The Captain’s voice was a combination of triumph and tears._

_For a moment, the three men stood unmoving, each wondering if he had heard correctly. Admiral Paris was the first to recover. "Voyager, this is Owen Paris. Let me be the first to say it. Welcome home." Tears began to fall down his face. "Welcome home, and well done. Well done."_  
**

"This is where things start to get confused," Jake said. "Did any of you know what would happen when you reported this to Operations?"

Barclay shook his head. "Not a clue. Admiral Paris called Admiral Hays from the control room, while Pete – Commander Harkins – and I were still there. He wasn’t as enthusiastic as we were, but he seemed pleased.

**  
_"That’s wonderful, Owen. Congratulations."_

_"Thank you, Jack. Can you spread the word? I need to get home. This is something I want to tell Cinda in person."_

_"Ah, Owen, I know this is a terrible thing to ask of you, but you can’t tell your wife yet. You can’t tell anyone."_

_Admiral Paris’s face began to darken. "What the – why? Good god, Jack, we should be calling the news services and getting the word out. The families of the crew should be told immediately."_

_Hays looked chagrined. "I know, and we will, but I’ve got orders straight from the top on this. I need you to come over to Ops for a debriefing now."_

_"Debriefing?" Paris’s expression had settled into a hard mask. After months of working together on this project, Barclay recognized it as deep anger. "Just who is going to be debriefed?"_

_"We’ll discuss it when you get here. Hays out."_

_Pete Harkins looked stunned. "What’s going on, Owen?"_

_"I don’t know. And I don’t like it." The admiral looked around the control room, gathering his thoughts. "Pete, Reg – get out of here. Out of the building, out of town. Off planet if you can. I’ve got a feeling they’re going to try to put a lid on this and if you two are still here, they’ll put a lid on you, too."_

_"But why?" Barclay asked. This made no sense to him. Hadn’t they been working for years to help Voyager get home? Why would Starfleet try to keep the fact that the ship was back a secret?_

_Paris shook his head. "It might be Section 31. I don’t know. But my gut tells me there’s going to be trouble, and if I’m right, we’ve got to make sure the public knows that Voyager is back. I’ve got to go to HQ, but you two – get going. And if they don’t break the news about Voyager tonight, find a way to do it."_  
**

Jake looked up in interest. "That’s not in any of the reports I’ve seen."

"It’s the first time I’ve told anyone," Barclay admitted. "You know what happened. They put Paris under house arrest as soon as he entered HQ. Pete got as far as his apartment before they nabbed him."

"And you made it all the way to Jupiter Station."

Barclay nodded. "Look, I’ve never talked about this before because…certain parties … were still in Starfleet, and I didn’t want to cause problems for them. They’re retired now, but I still would hate to cause them any trouble."

"I understand. Why don’t you tell me about it, and then we’ll figure out if I can even use the information."

Barclay nodded. "All right. Well, Pete and I left in a hurry, but before we did, we both made a copy of Janeway’s message and took it with us. We figured that no one would believe us without proof."

**  
_A light rain was falling, and the pavement was wet enough to reflect the streetlights. Reg turned up Mission, then skidded to a halt. If Admiral Paris was right, Security might already be at his apartment, waiting for him. He turned around and began to walk slowly in the other direction. Where could he go? And how would he, a virtual non-entity in Starfleet, ever get access to a news service reporter if he had to?_

_He stopped again. Reg Barclay might not know any reporters himself, but he knew someone who did. With a sense of relief, he jogged to the transit station and hopped a tram for Telegraph Hill._

_No one was following him as he left the tram; he made enough wrong turns and sudden stops to be sure of that. The rain had picked up, and he was soaked. Finally he reached his destination, a restored row house with a view of the harbor. Looking over his shoulder nervously, he rang the bell. When no one answered immediately, he rang again._

_An irritated voice sounded over the comm. "This better be important."_

_"Miles, it’s me. Reg. Reg Barclay. Let me in, I have to talk with you."_

_"Reg? Do you know what time it is?"_

_"I’m sorry, I’m sorry, it’s important, please Miles, let me in."_

_The door opened, and Reg stepped inside. He began to drip on the white tile of the foyer, and decided not to come in any further. Keiko would not be pleased if he dripped all over her floors._

_In a moment, Miles O’Brien came downstairs, knotting the sash of a bathrobe. "What is it, Reg?"_

_"It’s Voyager. It’s all wrong, Miles, it’s all gone wrong."_

_"Calm down. Has something happened to Voyager?"_

_"No. Yes. It’s back, it’s back and Admiral Paris thinks they’re going to keep it a secret. I don’t know why." He thrust out his hand. "Here’s the proof. You’ve got a friend in the Federation News service, don’t you? If you don’t hear from me in 24 hours, I want you to give this to him._

_O’Brien took the data chip but looked at Reg dubiously. "If Starfleet wants to keep this a secret, I don’t think I can-"_

_"Admiral Paris said it might be section 31. I don’t know what that means."_

_"I do." O’Brien suddenly looked grim. "All right, Reg. Twenty-four hours, then I give it to my friend. What are you going to do?"_

_Reg looked around nervously. He hadn’t actually formed any plans yet. "I don’t know. I can’t go home, I think. The Admiral said to get off planet if I could."_

_"Do you want to stay here tonight? We can figure out something in the morning."_

_"No, I don’t think I should. If they find me, you’ll be in it, too. But thanks." He was starting to hyperventilate, and he forced himself to breathe easily, the way Troi had taught him. Then he knew. He knew where to go. "Be careful, Miles."_

_"Don’t worry. Just take care of yourself, Reg." O’Brien clasped his arm. "If Admiral Paris was right, you might be in danger."_

_Reg felt his eyes widen. He had believed that from the moment Admiral Paris had told him to run, but hearing a friend confirm it was more frightening than anything so far. He nodded, then turned and went back out into the rain._  
_**_

Jake Sisko couldn’t help smiling. "And twenty-four hours later, O’Brien gave the data chip to his friend in the Federation News Service."

Barclay nodded. "I was still en route to Jupiter Station and didn’t see the broadcast, but by the time I arrived the news was out. Miles’ friend did a good job."

"Glad you think so."

Barclay looked at him in surprise. "You?"

Jake nodded. "That’s how I began my career, with FNS."

Barclay grinned. "So you’ve been on this story for a long time."

"Yeah. I never knew you were the Chief's source, though. He kept that to himself."

With a broad smile, Barclay stood. "I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry. Why don’t we see if Haley can fix us some lunch while we talk?"

Jake followed him out of the messy office, past a couple of laboratories to a surprisingly cozy kitchen. Haley, the attractive hologram who had let him in, was working at the counter. She raised an eyebrow when she saw Jake. "He must like you. He doesn’t bring most people here."

"I do like him, Haley. He was the reporter who broke the Voyager story fifty years ago. What’s for lunch?"

"Chicken salad. I remember that, Mr. Sisko. I was watching the news just before Reg arrived. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you."

Smiling, Jake joined Barclay at the kitchen table. "It was a long time ago, and I had still had hair." He had definitely inherited his father's hairline, and several years ago had adopted his father's solution – a cleanly shaved head.

Haley served them both and joined them at the table. "Dr. Zimmerman and I were sitting right here when Reg came in and told us what had happened. He looked awful. Lewis didn’t believe it could be as bad as Reg thought, so he tried to reach Admiral Paris. His secretary said he was ‘unavailable.’ Do you remember how scared she looked, Reg? Then we tried to reach Commander Harkins. His wife said the same thing, and she looked even more scared. So, then Lewis tapped into communications from Headquarters to Voyager."

Jake stared at them both. "He could do that? Did Starfleet know?"

Barclay cleared his throat. "Ah, perhaps we shouldn’t focus on that. The important thing is that we found the orders that Hays sent to Janeway."

**  
_TO: Janeway, K.M. – Commanding Officer, USS Voyager_  
_FROM: Hays, J.F. – Chief of Operations, SFC/SFHQ_  
_RE: ORDERS_

_1\. You are hereby ORDERED to proceed to Wolf 359 and hold position pending rendezvous with USS Beijing, maintaining radio silence en route._

_2\. Upon rendezvous, you are further ORDERED to stand down and transfer command to Captain Pavel Harcek and await orders._  
**

"Yeah, the infamous ‘welcome home’ order." Jake shook his head. "Hays thought he was being so clever, keeping it that abrupt. He figured that Captain Janeway wouldn’t know what to make of it - whether it was part of a formal welcoming ceremony, or whether she was in trouble. I don’t think he expected her read so much into it."

"We told her," Haley said.

Jake almost dropped his fork. "What?"

Barclay looked at her sharply, and then shrugged. "I guess it doesn’t matter now. We told her, Lewis and Haley and me. I sent her a message on the Pathfinder frequency."

**  
_Captain Janeway, it’s me, Lt. Barclay. Do not respond or acknowledge this message. Listen, I don’t know why but things aren’t going the way that we expected. Admiral Paris and Commander Harkins are under house arrest and the only reason anyone knows you’re back is that I leaked it to the news service. Admiral Paris said something about section 31, but I don’t know what that means. I don’t think the Beijing is coming to throw you a party. I, uh, I don’t know what else to do. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry._  
**

Jake looked at him, astonished. That was the first thing in years that genuinely surprised him about Janeway or Voyager. "That’s certainly been a well-kept secret."

The older man shrugged. "I half-expected someone on the Voyager crew to mention it long ago. I’m not certain the outcome would have been any different; they were expecting some kind of trouble over the Maquis in any event, but Captain Janeway thanked me later and told me it helped them get ready for everything that happened later."

"It certainly explains what Captain Harcek found."

**  
_Dear Mr. Sisko,_

_You’ve asked me to describe the events on Voyager when I assumed command. I must tell you that even though that entire file is declassified, it is not a subject on which I wish to dwell. It is one of the low points of my career and frankly, the only reason that I am willing to dredge it up again is that I feel I owe it to Kathryn Janeway. I never had a chance to apologize to her._

_Admiral Hays and Admiral Benari briefed me on the situation on Voyager before leaving Earth. I was told that Captain Janeway had fallen under the influence of the Maquis, and I should be prepared for resistance, either overt or covert, to the transfer of command. They said I could expect discipline to be lax, and they were concerned about the amount of influence the renegade Chakotay seemed to have among even the Starfleet personnel._

_It was with that background that I looked at Voyager from the observation deck of the Beijing. The ship was patched, scarred, and battered but every effort had been made to bring it to specs. That surprised me. From what I had been told, I would have expected less attention to regulations. I was so confident that I would find a lax, rebellious crew that I didn’t stop to contemplate the meaning of all the patches, scars and dents. It wasn’t until later that I began to comprehend everything that ship had been through._

_I beamed over with an armed Security detail. We were met in the transporter room by Captain Janeway, Commander Chakotay and Lt. Commander Tuvok, all in dress uniforms – outdated, but still dress uniforms. Janeway had cut her hair since leaving the Alpha quadrant but otherwise looked remarkably the same. I noted the rank bar on Chakotay’s collar with some disdain. It seemed proof to me that Hays had been right about the influence of this rebel. I honestly had to fight the impulse to rip it off._

_"Welcome aboard, Captain Harcek," Janeway said. She seemed to be blinking quite a lot, and I realized that she was holding back tears. "It’s good to see you. Allow me to introduce –"_

_"I am familiar with Chakotay’s record." I looked to the Vulcan. "Lt. Commander, I am surprised that you tolerated this farce."_

_Tuvok looked at me calmly. "If I understand your meaning, sir, I can say only that you are mistaken."_

_"We’re set up for the transfer ceremony in holodeck 2," Janeway said. Her tone was less cordial than a moment before, but absolutely professional. "If you’ll follow me."_

_It occurred to me as we left the room that none of them had so much as raised an eyebrow at the presence of the security guards. That made me immediately suspicious. As we walked down the corridor, I noted its condition. There were scars and evidence of heavy damage, but for the most part it gleamed as if ready for inspection. Everything shined and there was not so much as a thumb smudge on the computer consoles. Again, I was so focused on the probability of an attack that I did not consider what this really meant._

_As we approached the holodeck, I stopped. "If you don’t mind, Captain." I waved Hernandez, my Chief of Security, forward. He ran a quick sweep with a scanner._

_"No sign of weapons, sir. But there’s a lot of people in there."_

_"It’s the entire crew," Janeway said. "I thought it best if everyone saw this. That way, there won’t be any misunderstanding."_

_One hundred and forty-eight people, if Hays was accurate. If they turned out to be aggressors, we were in trouble. But orders are orders. "After you, Captain."_

_I followed her in, with Chakotay and Tuvok behind us and my guards behind them. There was a program running on the holodeck that created the impression we had just stepped into an auditorium. As a matter of fact, it looked like Armstrong Hall at the_ _Academy. There was a reception line of officers waiting to greet us, lining the way to the stage. "Captain Harcek, this is the rest of my senior staff. Lt. Thomas E. Paris, Helmsman."_

_I looked up at the name. The convict, Hays had said. Based on a history of self-interest, he probably wouldn’t oppose anything Starfleet did. He stood beside a woman of obvious Klingon blood, and he introduced her, as if this were a formal receiving line at a Starfleet reception. "Our Chief Engineer, Lt. B’Elanna Torres."_

_Torres looked at me with the most even expression I have ever seen from a Klingon. Like Chakotay, she wore a rank bar instead of pips. Maquis. "Sir. May I introduce our Chief of Operations, Lt. Harry Kim."_

_Fresh out of the Academy when Voyager left. Probably devoted to Janeway. Watch him, Hays had said._

_He looked younger than my son as he turned to introduce the next officer to me. "Our chief medical officer," he said, and I almost choked. No one had told me that the CMO was the old EMH-Mark One. It looked at me with the same smug expression that the damned EMH of the Tecumseh wore when he told me I was exaggerating the pain of a bat'leth wound during the Klingon conflict._

_Then I saw who stood next to him and stopped dead in my tracks. The alien didn’t look like anything I had ever seen before. Short, yellowish, spotted and with hair like a hedgehog - he looked like a toy troll my younger daughter had carried around as a toddler. But his smile seemed genuine._

_From behind me, Janeway said, "These are two civilian advisors who have been invaluable members of our crew. May I present Neelix, who is here as the ambassador of the Talaxian people."_

“ _A pleasure, Captain Harcek," he said._

_"And Seven of Nine," Janeway added, and it was then that I noticed the former Borg. I know, you might not believe that it took me that long, but I was distracted by Neelix. When I looked up Seven of Nine, my eyes must have bugged out. My first thought was to grip my phaser to protect myself. My second thought was that if all the Borg looked like that, they would have much less trouble assimilating large portions of the population._

_Janeway led me to a podium and looked out at her crew. "It’s been a long journey," she told them, "and one that required courage, dedication and hope from each and every one of you. It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve as your captain. I know that you will show Captain Harcek the same professionalism and ability that you showed me every day. I do not know if there will be another chance for me to say this, so I will tell you now. You have done your duty in the finest tradition of Starfleet, and I would be proud to have the opportunity to serve with you again."_

_She swallowed, and then nodded to a boson's mate standing to the side. He raised a whistle and blew the traditional call to attention. Then Janeway stepped aside and let me take the podium. I was starting to feel a little confused, but I read the transfer orders, then looked at Janeway. "Captain, I relieve you."_

_"I stand relieved."_

_I looked around. No one seemed to be carrying any weapons. Perhaps this unexpected gathering was fortuitous. I opened the folder with orders from the Admiralty. "On behalf of Starfleet and the Federation, I am authorized to welcome you back to the Alpha quadrant and commend you on your tenacity and resourcefulness in returning so quickly. There are, however, some formalities that must be addressed before you return to Earth. I am ordered to place Captain Janeway under house arrest, pending the outcome of a Board of Inquiry."_

_I paused, trying to gauge the reaction to that statement. There was a bit of murmuring but nothing significant. Janeway herself nodded and smiled wryly, as if she had been expecting it. The next part was going to be pivotal. "I am further ordered to take Thomas E. Paris, parolee, and the Maquis renegade Chakotay and all members of his crew into custody pending arraignment on Earth."_

_The murmuring was louder, but no one so much as raised a hand. As it died down, I said, "It would be simplest if the Maquis would turn themselves in."_

_Chakotay took a step to the left. His expression was sad, nothing more. "You heard the orders. My crew, step to this side of the room."_

_Torres was the first, I noted. She walked past me without looking at me, her head held high. Tom Paris followed, but he stopped in front of me. "I assume it’s ok for me to join them."_

_I gestured. Then, by ones and twos, others stepped out the crowd and lined up in front of Chakotay._

_Then Lt. Commander Tuvok walked over and stood beside him. Chakotay looked as surprised as I felt. "Lt. Commander," I said, rather sharply. "You were not a member of the Maquis crew."_

_"On the contrary, I was a member of the Maquis for several months."_

_"As a Starfleet spy."_

_"Do your orders specifically exempt Starfleet spies?"_

_"Of course not."_

_"Then with all due respect, I believe the order includes me."_

_Then Harry Kim went over. "Mr. Kim! I know you were never part of the Maquis."_

_That young man actually grinned at me. "In my heart, I was, sir." He took a place beside Paris and Torres._

_Then everyone else in the room, except my own security team and Janeway herself, crossed to stand with the prisoners. I looked at her and saw that she was biting her lower lip, and her eyes were gleaming with unshed tears, but her shoulders were straight and her head high._

_Chakotay also appeared to be deeply moved by this demonstration, and turned to me with great dignity. "Sir, I must inform you that Voyager’s brig lacks the space to hold us all. If you approve, we will confine ourselves to quarters."_

_For the first time, I began to wonder if Hays had been wrong._

_I looked at the crowd and realized that except for the senior staff, every one of them had removed all rank insignia. No pips, no bars. There was no easy way to distinguish the Maquis from the Starfleet personnel. "People," I said in my best command voice, "this is very touching, but it is also foolish. Any of you who have hopes of continuing a career in Starfleet need to step aside, now. You’ve made your point."_

_No one moved. I saw that a girl of ten or so standing with a woman in a sciences uniform. She looked Ktarian. "Little girl," I said impatiently, "you weren’t with the Maquis. Go stand over there."_

_She looked at me with large, solemn eyes. My oldest girl used to look at me like that, whenever I had to ship out after a too-short visit home. "No, sir," she said without flinching._

_Defied by a child. Perhaps Hays had been right after all; the Maquis influence seemed to be pervasive. "I am giving a direct order to all Starfleet personnel. Step aside."_

_Everyone took one step to the right._

_"That’s the problem, Captain," Tom Paris said. "We’re all Starfleet personnel now. Or we’re all Maquis. We’re one crew."_

_I glanced at Janeway. I suspected that if she told them to, they would separate. There was no way I was going to give her a chance to demonstrate that power. "All right. You are all guilty of insubordination, and you are all confined to quarters until further notice."_

_They went peacefully, Mr. Sisko, and not one of them so much as tried a midnight raid on the kitchen on the trip to Earth. I had to bring some of my staff from the Beijing over to man Voyager, and my chief engineer, Kevin McMonies, practically beat down the door to my ready room after taking a look at the engines. "You don’t need me over here. I’ll send a couple of techs over, you won’t need anyone else. Whoever told you to expect trouble was a fool, Pavel. That engine room should be photographed and entered in a beauty contest. I thought you told me this ship lacked discipline."_

_"They’ve had a Maquis as chief engineer for seven years, Mac. What else should we have expected?"_

_"Never assume, my friend, never assume."_

_"They knew we were coming two days ago. Any chance they’ve cleaned it up since then?"_

_He shook his head. "Nope. That kind of clean comes from regular maintenance. And I can tell you this: those engines have been rebuilt more than once, and the core was ejected at least once. They've patched in more alien parts than I’ve seen at a Ferengi auction. Maquis or not, their Engineer did one hell of a job. I’d like to shake his hand."_

_I thought of B'Elanna Torres, the Klingon who had looked at me so steadily. "Her hand, Mac. And I hope you have that chance."_

_My orders were to impound Voyager’s logs, which I did. Normally that task does not include reviewing the logs, but by then my curiosity was piqued, and I read a few. Then a few more. Then I asked Ops to see if Admiral Hays was available at Headquarters._

_It was few minutes before the call went through. Hays did not seem pleased to be hearing from me. "Yes, Captain?"_

_"Sir, I think there’s been a mistake. You couldn’t find a more professional crew than this. They’ve lived by Starfleet regulations for the past seven years, even the Maquis. Not one of them poses a threat to Federation security."_

_"Thank you for your opinion, Captain. May I assume that the prisoners are under arrest as ordered, or does this sudden admiration mean that you have released them?"_

_I stiffened. "They are under arrest, sir. They accepted it without protest."_

_"It could be a ruse, Captain. Stay vigilant. Maintain radio silence until you are within docking range of Spacedock. Hays out."_

_That was when I knew what was going on. There had been a power struggle in the Admiralty for months, with the "Federation First" group trying to gain supremacy. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized that Hays was a Firster. Voyager had been caught in the middle._

_I felt bad for Janeway and her people. But I figured her career was shot anyway, after this. I’d seen enough in her logs to know she had violated the Prime Directive six ways to Sunday in the Delta quadrant, so her chances of a future command were slim, Hays or not. I still had years ahead of me, maybe decades, and I wasn’t going to risk that. So I did what I was told and took them back to Earth and kept my mouth shut._

_And I’ve regretted it ever since._

_So, for the record, Mr. Sisko: during my contact with Captain Janeway and her crew, I was impressed with their conduct, their professionalism and their loyalty to one another. I found Voyager to be a credit to Starfleet in every possible aspect._

_Yours truly,_

_Pavel Harcek, Adm., UFPSF (Ret.)_  
**

"Admiral Harcek wrote me before he died," Jake said, "and gave me his version of the trip in from Wolf. It was very different from Admiral Hays’ version."

Haley sniffed. "Admiral Hays turned out to be a very unpleasant man. After two of his goons –"

"Guards," Barclay corrected mildly.

"Whatever. They picked up Reg and took him away, and Lewis was very unhappy. He called Admiral Hays and was told that Janeway had incited an insurrection against Harcek and that was why the crew was under arrest. It was a bald-faced lie, and Lewis told him so."

Barclay’s eyes suddenly lit up. "Do want to hear Voyager’s side of that story?"

"I don’t understand."

"Come with me." With all the enthusiasm of a child running downstairs on Christmas morning, Barclay grabbed Jake’s hand and pulled him out of his chair. He took him into one of the side labs, and said, "Activate EMH-Beta."

To Jake’s astonishment, an EMH Mark 1 suddenly appeared before them. "Hello, Reg. I see we have a visitor."

Jake looked at Barclay. "He’s not-"

"No." Barclay shook his head. "He’s a copy."

"But I am an excellent copy," the EMH stated. "I represent the last project Dr. Zimmerman worked on himself."

"And he has all the memories of the Voyager EMH. This is Jake Sisko, Doc. He’s writing a book on Captain Janeway."

The EMH looked at him with interest. "Really? Why haven’t you come to me before?"

"I wish I had." Jake could hardly believe his good fortune. All the memories of the Voyager EMH – this was a treasure, an unexpected bonanza. Questions began tumbling over in his mind.

Before he could speak, though, Barclay said, "We were just talking about what happened when Voyager returned."

The hologram smiled. "That was quite a moment, let me tell you. When we entered the tunnel, we had only a rough idea how long it would take to reach the end. We knew what our velocity would be, but we had to guess at the actual distance. The map from Commander Chakotay’s chah-mooz-ee stone was approximate, at best. Seven estimated it would take two and a half days.

"It was a wild ride in more ways than one. There were strong currents and it took all of Mr. Paris’s skill to keep us from colliding with the boundary. Seven had been quite definite in her opinion that such a collision would be fatal. We had no one else with his ability – there aren’t many pilots with his skill, you know, although if you ever tell him I said that I’ll deny it – so I began administering stimulants after the first 8 hours.

"Nobody had expected the tunnel to be as bad as it was. When we were in the Vaadwaur tunnels, there was quite a bit of debris, but nothing like what we encountered in the Chah-mooz-ee. The shields had to be monitored constantly, and B’Elanna and her crew were battling fluctuations in the warp field almost hourly. Even if they had been able to leave their stations, no one could have slept. We were pitching and yawing all over the place, and the stabilizers were offline almost as often as they worked. Besides administering stimulants to just about everyone, I had to treat a record number of spacesick cases.

"I was on the bridge to deliver another round of stimulants when Mr. Kim announced that the end was in sight."

**  
_"Hold on, Doc. I’m picking up the end of the tunnel. We’re going to be clear in 30 seconds."_

_The ship rattled more strongly. "Harry, are you sure?" the Captain called._

_"Yes, ma’am. One way or another, we’re out of here in twenty-five, twenty-four twenty-three…twenty seconds."_

_No one else said anything. I didn’t know what to say myself. It was almost impossible to believe that home might suddenly be in our reach. I stood next to Seven at the auxiliary console behind the Captain. I was surprised when she reached over and took my hand in hers, without looking at me._

_Then we could see it, the end of the line, on the viewscreen. At first it was just a tiny circle of blackness against the angry red of the tunnel but it grew rapidly as we approached it. I braced myself for a jolt, like the one we experienced when we entered the tunnel, but it never came. The only thing that marked our transition to normal space was the sudden cessation of shuddering and the return to normality._

_"All stop," the Captain said._

_It took a moment for the screen to readjust to normal space. The stars seemed to pop into place one at a time, filling out the black velvet expanse before us. And still, none of us said a word. It was as if we were afraid that speech might break the spell._

_Finally, the Captain said, "Any idea where we are, Mr. Kim?" Her voice was restrained, as if she were keeping her excitement in check._

_It was a long moment before Harry replied. "Captain, we are in the Alpha quadrant. Sector 343."_

_"We are twenty light years from where I predicted." Seven looked disgruntled. "Your map was most imprecise, Commander."_

_Commander Chakotay looked as stunned as the rest of us felt. "My apologies, Seven." Then he looked at Captain Janeway. "You did it, Kathryn. You got us home."_

_Mr. Paris let out a yelp that was more appropriate for a cattle drive than the bridge of a starship. "Yeeha!" In two quick steps he crossed the command deck, pulled the Captain out of her chair, and kissed her. On the lips. Then he did the same to Chakotay. I was somewhat surprised that the Commander did not object, but then the Commander also kissed the Captain and I realized that Paris’s actions gave him that opportunity. Mr. Paris was running around the bridge kissing and hugging everyone – me, Seven, Harry, even Tuvok, and just about everyone else was hugging someone. It was pandemonium._

_The Captain, who was laughing and crying at the same time, recovered enough to tell Tuvok to open the ship-wide commsystem. "All hands, this is the Captain. It worked. Ladies and gentlemen, we are home."_

_I swear we could hear the cheers from Engineering on the bridge._

_"All right," she said briskly. "Let’s find out what kind of shape we’re in so I can tell Starfleet when to expect us."_

_B’Elanna reported first, shouting to be heard among the celebrations of her staff. "The warp engines are offline, Captain. It’s going to take us about a day to get them up again, once everyone settles down." Then she paused and said the most unprofessional thing I had heard from her in years. "Hey, helmboy, nice flying."_

_Paris grinned._

_"Open the Pathfinder frequency, Harry. Let’s tell ‘em we’re on our way." The bridge quieted as she sent her message, and I think we were all surprised when the response was immediate. Admiral Paris must have been sleeping by the comm system._

_His voice was choked with emotion. "Welcome home. Welcome home and well done."_

_Tom’s grin suddenly faded, and he bit his lip. He began to blink back tears. "I’m gonna see my dad," he said to no one in particular. "My dad’s gonna see his grandson."_

_The Captain laid a hand on his arm and nodded, then stepped back. She was suddenly pale and if I wasn’t mistaken, she was dizzy as well. "I’ll be in my ready room," she said vaguely, and walked away. She staggered a little as she reached the door._  
_I thought I was the only one who noticed, but Commander Chakotay did, too. We reached the door at the same time and I followed him in. We found the Captain on her knees, her arms wrapped around her chest as she gasped for air. Chakotay immediately knelt in front of her and lifted her chin so he could see her face. Only then did we both realize that she was crying. "Kathryn?" he asked._

_"We made it," she gasped. "I – I thought we never would—" Then she began to sob in earnest, great huge gulps of air that must have burned her chest._

_The Commander wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly. He looked up at me, with alarm on his face. I checked my tricorder and spoke quietly. "It’s reaction. Partly to coming off the stimulants, partly emotional. She’s carried this burden for a long time."_

_He nodded, then bent his face against hers. I think he forgot I was there. "Shh. Shh, Kathryn. It’s all right. You got us home, love, just as you promised. You did it."_

_Her arms unclenched and reached toward him, until she was holding him just as tightly. In a few moments she calmed and stopped crying. Then she raised her head and looked at him with swollen eyes and a red nose, and saw that he had been crying, too. She lifted a shaky hand and touched the tears on his face. And then she pulled his head to hers and kissed him. She kissed him with the same ferocity that fueled her tears only moments earlier. He did not seem to be surprised by this._

_I cleared my throat, but they did not acknowledge me. I decided that the medical crisis was over and it was all right for me to leave._

_They didn’t come out for an hour._

**  
Jake stared at him, feeling vindicated. "So, they really were lovers before the trials?"

"Oh. Oh, dear. I’m sorry, there are some things that are part of the doctor-patient relationship. You understand."

Barclay looked fascinated. "I never heard that part before."

The beta-EMH shrugged. "You never asked. Well, then we got the orders from Admiral Hays, and the Captain guessed that she was probably going to be taken into custody. We'd been in contact with HQ for several months, and of course the prejudice against the Maquis had been evident. The Captain also sensed that the Admiralty was not happy with some of her choices in the Delta quadrant. After we received Mr. Barclay’s message, though, we realized it was more than just unhappiness. She and the Commander called a ship wide meeting, and told everyone they not to be surprised if the two of them were taken into custody for questioning. They would do everything in their power to protect every member of the crew. And they told us that they expected everyone to cooperate with Starfleet and show them that Voyager deserved to be recognized for what it was – the finest ship and the finest crew in the ‘Fleet."

"Was the ‘one crew’ gambit planned?"

He shook his head. "Not to my knowledge. Although word might have spread in the lower decks, because no one came with rank insignia except the senior staff."

Jake shook his head. This was amazing. Not even Tom Paris had been willing to share this much information. Then he remembered. "Wait a minute. At her trial, Captain Janeway was asked under oath if she and Chakotay were lovers, and she denied it. How did she get away with that if they really were?"

The hologram and Barclay exchanged a knowing look. Barclay clasped a hand on his shoulder. "Ah, Jake. That is another story. That is another story entirely."

-To Be Continued-


	3. I Am Become A Name

"It was very hard for them to come back to so much public attention, you know. Would you care for a canapé?"

Deanna Troi extended a tray of hors d'oeuvres to Jake Sisko with a smile that seemed as genuine as it was practiced. Thirty years as a Starfleet officer and twenty-five years as an admiral's wife had refined her social skills, and her Betazoid empathic skills only added to her ability to put people at ease. Jake shook his head, and she set the tray back on the table. "Kathryn Janeway was a very private person. Although she expected that Voyager would be the center of attention when they returned so much sooner than expected, she was not prepared for the media firestorm that ensued. A firestorm that you contributed to, Mr. Sisko, if memory serves."

"Memory serves," Jake said with a smile. Troi was still a strikingly beautiful woman, even at 105. Her hair had aged to a shining silver that framed her unlined face. No wonder she's Barclay's favorite therapist, he thought. I feel better just looking at her. "And it probably didn't help that the homecoming wasn't exactly what any of them expected."

Her smile dropped. "No, it wasn't. I still regard that as a shameful chapter in Starfleet's history. It was just chance that I was on Earth at the time. The Enterprise was at the Utopia Planetia shipyards for repair, and we had leave. Captain Picard invited several of us to join him at his family home in France. I remember, Geordie – Geordie LaForge – was watching the weekly briefing from Headquarters while the rest of us were outside on the terrace, having a glass of wine and watching the stars. His father had taken a posting on the Romulan border, and he wanted to see if there was any update on the reports of the epidemic there."

***  
T _he conversation had tapered off, but they were enjoying the night. Captain Picard and Beverly sat side by side in chairs with overstuffed cushions, Data was sitting on a bench, and Deanna had curled up so that her head was in Will’s lap on a love seat. The pleasant quiet was broken when Geordie’s voice called from inside the house. "Troi, I think you should see this."_

_She was much too comfortable to move. "Tell me later."_

_"It’s Voyager. They say it’s back."_

_"What?" She sat up, shifting to fit on the love seat. Geordie had everyone’s attention, but Troi was the only one who had even a tangential relationship to the lost ship. "That can’t be."_

_Suddenly Geordie burst out onto the terrace. "I think it’s true, Voyager’s back but HQ is being really weird about it. You need to see this."_

_Troi was the first one to follow him back into the study where the monitor was showing the public conference room of Starfleet Headquarters. A handsome young man was facing them. Troi did not recognize him, but the banner on the screen identified him as "Jake Sisko, FNS News."_

_"To repeat, Starfleet confirms that a ship claiming to be the USS Voyager has appeared near Wolf 359. The USS Beijing has been dispatched to determine whether or not the claim is true. This was the scene just moments ago during the weekly briefing with Admiral Jack Hays, Chief of Operations."_

_The picture shifted, and suddenly Admiral Hays and Lt. Commander Gunter Mitchell, the press liaison at HQ, were standing on the dais._

_"Commander Mitchell, why is Project Pathfinder closed today?" Forby Tel of the Andorian news service asked the question._

_Mitchell blinked. "I wasn’t aware that it was, Ms. Tel."_

_"It is. I stopped by this morning, and there were two guards at the door."_

_Connor Fornier from the Alpha Centauri Times stood. "Where is Admiral Paris?"_

_"I assume he’s in his office, Mr. Fournier. He doesn’t usually attend this conference." As Mitchell spoke, Hays stood beside him and looked at the reporters with narrowed eyes._

_"No, he isn’t." Jake Sisko stood. "He cancelled all his meetings today. Where is Commander Pete Harkins?"_

_"Are you getting at something, Mr. Sisko?"_

_"Project Pathfinder is under guard. Angie Harkins has no idea where her husband is. Neither does Cinda Paris. Reginald Barclay is also unaccounted for. The night before last, Voyager sent a transmission that it was in the Alpha quadrant. Why didn’t you mention that today?"_

_Mitchell was normally unflappable, but he looked rattled as he spoke. "Mr. Sisko, I assure you that if we had information like that about Voyager, we would have –" He broke off as Admiral Hays grabbed his arm and whispered into his ear. For a moment, Mitchell stared at him as if he couldn’t believe he had heard correctly. Then he looked down to his shoes and took a deep breath. "What is your source for that information, Mr. Sisko?"_

_"You know better than that, Gunter."_

_Admiral Hays stepped forward. "You are talking about matters which affect Federation security, Mr. Sisko. I demand to know your source."_

_"And I refer you to Section 12 of the Federation Charter. In case you’ve forgotten, it guarantees a free press, independent of any governmental or military authority. So, what’s Voyager’s status?"_

_"We cannot comment on rumors." Mitchell looked increasingly unhappy._

_"It’s not a rumor that Captain Janeway advised Admiral Paris at 2245 hours on Monday night that Voyager had come through a subspace tunnel and was then less than 9 light-years from Wolf 359."_

_The room exploded with people shouting questions. Hays was red in the face, staring at Jake Sisko as if he had suddenly turned into an Aldeberan hydra. Mitchell whispered to him, then Hays whispered back._

_Finally Mitchell returned to the podium. "I am advised that no announcement concerning Voyager will be made until Starfleet has confirmed that this message was not a hoax. The USS Beijing is en route to Wolf 359 and we will reconvene when we have Captain Harcek’s report." Hays strode from the dais before the last sentence was finished._

_On the other side of the Earth, the senior staff of the Enterprise stood in disbelief. "What are they thinking?" Beverly finally said. "They should be celebrating, not acting like Voyager poses some sort of threat."_

_Picard’s expression was grim. "I’m afraid there are some who see it that way."_

_"Because of the Maquis on board?" Geordie asked. "That’s just silly."_

_"I’m sure that there are some who would like to see them punished. The Cardassians deprived segments of the Admiralty from getting their pound of flesh."_

_Deanna frowned. "I think the fact that most of them were killed should be enough."_

_Picard shook his head. "The massacre was tragic, but it was in the course of a war. The Federation First supporters want to send a message that threats to Federation security will not be forgiven or forgotten. Yes, I imagine that the Maquis on Voyager will face a difficult time."_

_Data spoke quietly. "We should not be surprised if the same is true of Captain Janeway herself."_

_"What do you mean?" Will asked._

_"Since the Dominion War began, I have observed that the supporters of the Federation First movement have consistently increased the amount of control vested in Headquarters. We ourselves experienced the erosion of discretion given to commanders under the guise of coordination and shared resources. Captain Janeway has been out of the control of Headquarters for seven years. If she is lionized by the public, she may be perceived as a threat to the philosophy of centralized control."_

_Picard nodded slowly. "You may be right, Data. Sadly, you may be right."_  
***

"Interesting that Data saw the agenda first." Jake helped himself to another bit of salmon on a cracker. "I don’t think about androids paying attention to human politics."

"He was a keen observer of humanity, and very astute." Deanna smiled sadly. "Well, as you know, there wasn’t anything more on the story for two days, until Starfleet made the last-minute announcement that Voyager was coming into Spacedock. I saw that as it happened; we monitored the channel after the first announcement, in case anything developed."

***  
_"This is Jake Sisko, for the Federation News Service from Spacedock. The USS Voyager came home today, at least sixty-three years sooner than anyone had a right to expect. Its return, which would seem to this reporter to be a cause for rejoicing, has been treated by Starfleet with secrecy and reservation. There could be no reservations, though, for the families of the crew who disembarked today for the first time in seven years."_

_Jake stopped talking as the replay ran. A man with curly red hair in an out-of date gold uniform stepped out of the docking hatch onto the red carpet, and looked around uncertainly. Suddenly two teen-aged boys with equally red hair tackled him and the three of them tumbled to the carpet, rolling as a group until a slender woman with honey brown hair came and stood beside them. "Joe," was all she said, but the rolling ceased and the officer stood. His face was a study in emotion and he opened his mouth, but no words came out. Then he pulled her into his arms and began to sob._

_The scene cut to another officer, a blonde ensign in a sciences uniform, who held the hand of a girl as they left the ship. The girl was young, not yet ten, and it was evident that she was at least partially Ktarian. Then a man's voice shouted, "Samantha!" and a Ktarian male ran forward. He dropped to his knees in front of the girl and looked at her as if she were the most precious jewel in the universe. He looked up to the ensign and then at the girl again, then held his arms open to them both._

_The last person to step out of the docking ring was Captain Janeway herself. For someone who had just brought a ship 75,000 light years in only seven years, she looked somber. Two officers, apparently not from Voyager since they wore current uniforms, followed at a discreet distance. She was about two-thirds of way down the red carpet when suddenly there was a disturbance in the crowd and an Irish setter came bounding toward her, dragging a leash in her wake. The dog leaped up, placing its paws on Janeway’s shoulders and began licking her face._

_The Captain said, "Bear? Oh, Bear," and smiled for the first time, accepting the canine affection and scratching the dog behind its ears. Then two women pushed their way onto the carpet. The younger of the two picked up the leash and gently chastised the dog._

_The older woman, as petite as Janeway, stood for a moment looking at the Captain with tears rolling down her cheeks. Then she stepped closer and cupped the Captain’s chin. "I knew I’d see that beautiful face again."_

_Kathryn Janeway, starship captain, said only, "Mom." Then they were embracing tightly, each of them crying quietly. Then the younger woman dropped the leash and joined the hug while the dog wagged its tail and looked for a chance to break into the huddle._

_"Captain Janeway was reunited with her mother and sister for barely three minutes before Starfleet security forces escorted her to Headquarters," Jake said over the scene. "Despite the heroic efforts that brought Voyager home, Starfleet apparently intends to hold Captain Janeway pending the possibility of formal charges._

_"The observant among you may have noticed that none of the former Maquis members of Janeway's crew were permitted to disembark. Commander Chakotay, Lt. Thomas Paris, Lt. B’Elanna Torres and the others are also being held pending possible charges. Their families still wait for the chance to see their loved ones again."_  
***

"We all left France for San Francisco the next day. We weren’t sure what we could do, but we figured we had a better chance of doing something there rather than remaining in France. Beverly had a house in Sausalito, and we made that our new home base."

"Why?" Jake asked, genuinely curious. "None of you had any real connection to Janeway or to Voyager. Why were you all so interested?"

"It’s hard to say. We all had the feeling that something bad was happening to Voyager, something that needed to be corrected before it affected all of us. I think it was the Captain that reminded us of the old saying – ‘all that is needed for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.’ We had no idea what we could do, but we had to find out."

"I imagine that Captain Picard had some pretty good sources in HQ," Jake said with a smile. His father had maintained a network of support staff and non-comms who could be counted on to be in the know; it was not hard to guess that Picard, one of the most politically savvy officers in the history of Starfleet, would have an even more extensive network.

"Yes, but the key information came from one of Will's contacts." Her eyes sparkled with amusement. "It turned out that an old friend of his was working as Admiral Necheyev's secretary. That's how we found out what was really going on."

***  
_Will and Deanna sat in a corner booth in a bar in the Tenderloin district, dressed in civilian clothes and trying to look inconspicuous. They needn't have worried; it was clear that the patrons of the bar made a habit of consciously ignoring strangers. "Are you sure this is the place?" Deanna asked for the third time. Will's friend was more than half an hour late._

_"Yes, I’m sure. Maybe something happened." Will frowned as he poured himself a glass from the pitcher of truly dreadful beer they had ordered. "You know, this stuff kind of grows on you."_

_She pretended to take a sip from her very full glass. "You can have the headache tomorrow, not me."_

_He grinned at her. "You know, you need to get into the spirit of this a little more. After all, you're supposed to be my companion for the evening."_

_"So?"_

_"So, you should act more … companionable."_

_A slow, sultry smile crept across her face. "Like this, lover?" she purred as she leaned into him. One hand closed over his thigh as her mouth came closer to his. Fingernails dug through pants and into skin as she kissed him lightly. "Don't push it, Will," she whispered as he struggled not to show his discomfort. "I don't like this place, I don't like it at all."_

_"Well, look who's here," a voice said, and they both sat upright. A willowy blonde with a perfect figure, perfectly revealed by the black leather pants and vest she wore, stood at the edge of the table. A man nearly the size of Worf, also dressed in black leather, stood behind her, possessively rubbing her derriere._

_"Join us," Will said. As soon as they were seated, he added, "Chief Petty Officer Cat Humphrey, this is Commander Deanna Troi."_

_"No rank here. My friend is Seymour."_

_Deanna felt as surge of amusement from Will as he looked at the muscular giant sitting beside Cat. "Nice to meet you, Seymour."_

_"I don't have much time, Will. We're due at a party in half an hour." From the look Cat and Seymour exchanged, Deanna decided she didn't want to know what kind of party. "Here's the dirt. Necheyev and Hays were the ones who hustled Janeway back to HQ for a private little meeting. Janeway was hopping mad, let me tell you. It's been a long time since I heard anyone talk to Nasty that way."_

_"Nasty?" Deanna asked, confused._

_"Necheyev. Ever met her? Then you understand. Janeway told them she wanted her Maquis released and released now. I thought, go girl, you tell 'em. But they really cold-cocked her. They told her that if she rolls over and agrees to retire with a reduction in rank, they'll let the Maquis go."_

_Will looked at her in disbelief. "Why?"_

_"It's personal for Nasty. Something to do with Janeway's father flunking her at the Academy, I think. Or maybe he refused to sleep with her. For Hays, it's different. He honestly thinks she's a maverick who could –" green eyes dancing, Cat straightened up and tucked in her chin. Her voice lowered and assumed the inflections of Jack Hays. "-'seriously undermine the discipline and structure of Starfleet if left unchecked.' He actually said that to her, Big Guy. He thinks that she was sleeping with that hunky Maquis and fell under his spell. He actually said that, too – 'fell under his spell.' Can you believe it? The man is medieval."_

_Deanna was still confused. "I'm sorry, I don't understand. Were you in the room?"_

_Cat laughed. "Oh, sweetie, of course not. How do you think I've lasted all these years? It's not my skill with a filing system, let me tell you. I know things, and they know I know things. It's a symbiotic relationship."_

_"We gotta go, Cat." Seymour made his only contribution to the conversation._

_Cat slid out of the booth, making sure that Will got a good view of her chest. "It'll be quite a party. You two want to join us?"_

_Will managed not to grimace as Deanna's heel pressed against his instep. "No, thanks, we've got other plans."_

_The blonde shrugged. "Too bad. Mighta been fun. See ya round, Big Guy."_

_"Thanks, Cat."_

_When the two were gone, Will said, "Well, that's it. They're out to bury her."_

_Deanna nodded. "We need to do something about it, but one thing first."_

_"What?"_

_"Exactly why," she asked slowly, "does that woman call you Big Guy?"_  
***

Jake almost laughed. Deanna Troi obviously relished the memory of that encounter in a Tenderloin bar. "Will’s sources were almost always women, but they weren’t always as memorable as Cat."

"She certainly doesn’t sound like typical Starfleet." He activated a padd, began taking notes. "So, Hays and Necheyev offered Janeway a deal before she’d been back on Earth an hour. They must have been planning it for a while."

"I’m not so sure of that. Remember, no one expected Voyager to make it home for another 30 years, so it’s unlikely anyone had actually planned for the event. I do think that Hays and Necheyev, especially Necheyev, were opportunists. They knew how to react quickly to get what they wanted. It’s how they advanced their careers."

"They tipped their hand, though." Jake reviewed his notes. "They told her how they intended to use her relationship with Chakotay against her."

Deanna looked at him thoughtfully. "Is that your focus? That relationship?"

He nodded. "The more I learn about Kathryn Janeway, the more I believe that her relationship with Chakotay was much deeper, and of much longer standing, than either of them ever admitted. And I think it just might be one of the great love stories of the past century."

She smiled. "You’re a romantic. Good, so am I. Unfortunately, there’s not much more I can tell you. Kathryn and I began a therapeutic relationship shortly after that excursion to the Tenderloin. I can’t disclose what I learned as her counselor."

Another brick wall. "I understand. Is there anything else you can tell me? Especially about why she turned down the deal. Everything I’ve learned about her would seem to indicate that she would have taken that deal. She never hesitated to sacrifice herself for the sake of the crew in the Delta quadrant; it would have been consistent if she had tried the same thing here.

Deanna inhaled slowly. "I suppose it doesn’t matter now if I tell you. The people involved are no longer at risk… no one knows about this, Jake, except those of us who were there. You’ll have only my word for it."

"I’ll take it," Jake said quickly, intrigued.

"All right. Did you know that Chakotay and the Maquis were held at the old stockade at Headquarters for three days, before they were transferred to the penal center? Supposedly, they were kept there for medical clearance and questioning, but I think it was also to help demoralize them. The stockade wasn’t exactly a modern or comfortable environment."

"I wondered. The records didn’t quite match up, but I was never able to fill in the gap."

"At the same time, Kathryn was placed under house arrest. They put her in the Visiting Officers Quarters on Headquarters grounds with a very restricted visitors list. One of the few people allowed to see her was Admiral Paris, and he was able to get permission for me to join him, for the legitimate reason of trying to persuade her to accept counseling."

***  
_"Admiral." Kathryn Janeway looked at Owen Paris with an expression of surprise that melted almost at once to affection. She extended her hand, expecting him to shake it._

_"Too formal, Kathryn. Admirals don’t hug captains, and I am going to hug you."_

_Deanna watched with some surprise as the always proper, always formal Admiral Paris caught Janeway in a bear hug. After an instant of surprise, she returned the hug with matching affection. Although her empathic screens were in place, the emotions between the two were so strong that Deanna quickly had to readjust them to avoid "eavesdropping" on them._

_When Janeway stepped back, her eyes were wet. "How did you get here? Mother told me you were under house arrest."_

_He shrugged. "That was just a misunderstanding. It’s been cleared up now."_

_"What’s happened to my crew? I haven’t heard."_

_"Don’t worry. Your ‘fleet personnel is free, with their families here on Earth. Tuvok and Kim are here in San Francisco, for debriefing, but their families are with them."_

_"And the others? The Maquis, Tom, Seven-?"_

_"Tom’s back in the New Zealand penal colony, waiting for a hearing." His expression was difficult to read. "My grandson is with me, though. Cinda is in transports of delight to have a baby in the house again."_

_"Have you seen Tom? You should be proud of him, Owen."_

_The Admiral nodded. "I have, and I am. Thank you for that."_

_"Don’t thank me. Tom turned himself around – although your new daughter-in-law had a quite a bit to do with it."_

_"So Tom tells me. Once we get this all straightened out, I’m looking forward to getting to know that young woman." He held her at arms length. "You look tired. Are they treating you right?"_

_She shrugged. "No complaints." For the first time, she noticed that Paris was not alone, and looked at him curiously._

_"Oh. I’m sorry, Commander, I forgot. Kathyrn, this is Commander Deanna Troi. She was of great assistance to us on Project Pathfinder."_

_Janeway offered her hand. "Then on behalf of my crew, Commander Troi, thank you. You have no idea how much it has meant to us the past year to maintain contact with home."_

_"My role was minor," Deanna said, "but I’m proud to have contributed. You and your crew accomplished something remarkable."_

_For the first time, Kathryn’s smile reached her eyes. "The credit goes to the crew. They were more than any captain could have hoped for."_

_Owen looked around the small studio apartment with a frown. "You must be going stir crazy in here. Grab your jacket and let’s go for a walk."_

_"I’m under house arrest, remember?"_

_"We won’t leave the grounds. Don’t worry, I cleared it with Security. I’m not about to get you into trouble." He looked at her steadily with an expression she apparently recognized._

_Ambitious young officers who are smart quickly learn to read the silent signals of their commanding officers. Kathryn Janeway had been both when she served under Paris, and if Deanna was any judge, she still remembered the Admiral’s body language. With a quizzical expression, she shrugged. "All right. I could use some sunshine."_

_Owen talked about the perfection of his grandchild all the way down the ‘lift and until they were some distance from the building. Finally he stopped. "I think its safe now."_

_"Safe?" Janeway asked._

_"To talk. I don’t know for certain, but I suspect your quarters are wired for sound." Paris pointed down a path that led to copse of trees. "This way."_

_She followed, but looked at him askance. "You aren’t serious. They can’t do that without telling me."_

_"They aren’t supposed to do it without telling you," Deanna said. "There’s a difference."_

_The path continued through the trees to a circular green space surrounded by roses in all possible shades of red, pink and yellow. Janeway stopped. "This is new."_

_"It’s a memorial park, for those who died in the Breen attack." Paris looked around. "Kathryn, we have to talk about your next step."_

_"It’s going to be a short conversation, then. I’m going to retire."_

_"We know about the deal they offered you. Before you make up your mind, there are some things you should know."_

_"Owen, there’s nothing you can tell me that will change my mind." She looked at Deanna. "Are you JAG, then?"_

_"No, I'm not a lawyer. I’m a counselor. And-"_

_"A counselor? Thanks, but no thanks." Janeway turned back to Paris. "I appreciate your concern, but it’s time to go back."_

_"Not so fast, missy."_

_At the sound of the unmistakable voice, Janeway turned around. "Boothby?"_

_The ageless gardener ambled into the green from the opposite direction. "Welcome home, Captain." He held out a hand as if to shake hers, but when she took it he pulled her into a hug. "Well done, girl. Well done."_

_Janeway looked at him with a lopsided smile. "Don’t tell me you’re in on this, too."_

_"Damn straight. But wait – I brought you a surprise." He disappeared back up the path, disappearing around a corner._

_She turned back to Paris. "Ganging up on me has never been particularly effective. You know that."_

_"We aren’t trying to gang up on you. We just want to make sure you have the whole picture before you make up your mind." Paris shook his head. "Just listen to us, that’s all I ask."_

_"Here we are," Boothby said, reappearing. He was not alone. A tall, dark man in black fatigues was just a step behind him. Deanna recognized him by the tattoo on his forehead, although he was better looking in person than he had been in pictures of him used on the news reports._

_When Chakotay saw Janeway, he stopped short. The Captain also seemed to freeze for a moment, neither breathing nor blinking. Then they each took two quick steps into each other's arms. They stood, simply holding each other in silence. The emotions running between them were so strong that Deanna once again had to reinforce her empathic shields to give them privacy._

_Finally they separated enough to look at one another. She reached up and touched his face. "Are you all right? I’ve been worried."_

_"I’m fine. We’re all fine." His eyes swept over her, taking in the dark hollows and pale skin. "What about you?"_

_She chuckled, but it sounded bitter. "I’m in the lap of luxury – the VOQ."_

_Boothby cleared his throat. "There’s not much time, you two. Sit down and listen to us."_

_Deanna raised her eyebrows. Although she knew of Boothby from Captain Picard and Will, she had never met him before. It was astonishing that anyone other than an admiral or high priest could get away with that tone with two command-rank officers, and yet Janeway and Chakotay sat, almost meekly, on one of the benches. "You’ve been gone a long time. A lot of things changed around here, and most of them aren’t for the better. We went through a war, you know."_

_"Yes, we know." Chakotay answered him. "With Cardassia."_

_Boothby nodded. "More to the point, with the Dominion and its allies. The Founders – the force behind the Dominion – were shapeshifters. They infiltrated the Federation, the Klingon Council, even Starfleet headquarters, before anyone even realized it was a possibility. It led to a lot of paranoia, let me tell you."_

_Paris added, "The war is over, but the paranoia hasn’t gone away. There is a significant faction that believes that the only way to protect the Federation from its enemies is to deal harshly with any threat, or potential threat. They call themselves the Federation First movement."_

_"’Firsters’," Boothby noted contemptuously._

_"And they want to make an example of the Maquis," Chakotay said, sounding tired. "That’s not exactly a surprise."_

_"Just listen," Boothby snapped. "The Firsters say they’re protecting the laws and ideals of the Federation, but what they mean is, they’ll follow those laws and ideals as long as it’s convenient. As soon as they think someone might be a threat to them, the gloves are off. I hate to say it, but you can't trust them. They offered you a deal, Captain. Chakotay, what about you?"_

_He nodded slowly, his eyes not moving from the gardeners. "They said they would exonerate Kathryn and release my crew if I pled guilty."_

_Janeway's head jerked toward him. "They promised full pardons for you and the crew if I cooperated."_

_"You see?" Boothby nearly crowed. "They want the two of you out of the way. Then they can go after the rest of them."_

_As they sat, digesting that, Deanna could feel the conflict within them both. They didn't want to believe it. Finally, Janeway spoke. Turning to Paris, she said, "Owen? Is that true? Would they really lie to us?"_

_Owen Paris suddenly looked much older. "I'm afraid so. I told you that my arrest was a misunderstanding. It wasn’t. They were trying to keep Voyager’s return a secret, so they locked up the three of us from Project Pathfinder who knew about it so we wouldn’t announce it. Once the story broke, there was no point keeping us locked up anymore, but you scare them, the pair of you."_

_"For god’s sake, why?"_

_"You’re far too popular in the media. You’re too independent. You remind people of how things used to be, and how they could be. You threaten their vision of how we ought to live – dependent on their judgment and their protection."_

_"I can't believe it." Janeway's distress was evident on her face and in the way she gripped Chakotay's hand. "It can't be that different."_

_"It is." Deanna spoke quietly, but firmly. "My assignment is on the Enterprise. Three years ago, we had orders to allow the destruction of an entire species - because it was feared they held the secrets of longevity. If Captain Picard had not deliberately disobeyed orders, a peaceful, creative people would have been wiped out."_

_There was a long moment of silence, broken when Chakotay turned to Janeway. "You were going to sacrifice yourself for us."_

_For a moment, it looked like she was going to deny it, but then she shrugged and gave him her lop-sided smile. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."_

_"It wasn't," he said bluntly. "We don't want our freedom at your expense. We never did."_

_"What about you?" she retorted. "Weren't you about to do the same thing?"_

_Boothby smiled. "Sounds like you've changed your mind."_

_She glared at him. "Understand this: there is nothing more important to me than the wellbeing of my crew. Our crew," she corrected with a quick glance at Chakotay. "But I have no intention of being snookered by a bunch of desk jockeys."_

_"Good," Paris said, "good. But I have to be honest with you, Kathyrn. If you fight them, they'll throw the book at you. At both of you."_

_"I know," she said, suddenly subdued. "I've seen the charges they will file. There's everything from Hazarding the Vessel to Conduct Unbecoming an Officer, with a few violations of the Prime Directive in between."_

_Paris nodded. "They will make the case that you two became lovers almost immediately, and that your judgment was impaired as a result. They will say that all of your other decisions were influenced by your Maquis lover. I think Hays really believes it. I think that’s what set him against you in the first place."_

_She colored, but it was Chakotay who spoke. "That's ridiculous. If anything, she influenced me. And why would anyone think we became lovers so quickly? That's not what happened."_

_Boothby answered. "Someone named Seska said so in a log entry."_

_Deanna felt the combination of anger, shame and repudiation that seemed to radiate from them both at his words._

_"That's it?" Janeway asked, her voice carefully controlled. "They believe Seska? Do they realize she was a Cardassian spy?"_

_Paris nodded. "Yes. But it feeds their paranoia and fits their agenda, so they choose to believe it."_

_"I'll be damned if I am going to let Seska win now. And I'll be damned if I give in to anyone who believes that lying bitch." Janeway’s eyes were cold and hard as she turned to Chakotay. "We can't let her win."_

_"No." His expression had become closed, and Deanna sensed that he was pulling in his emotions. Whoever Seska had been, her name alone conjured strong feelings in both of them. "But it won't be easy, I think."_

_"No, it won't." Paris looked at them both. "I have to be honest. It's going to be hell. Your lives are going to be held up for scrutiny in front of the entire quadrant. Every decision, every thought, every reaction you had is going to be examined and analyzed and criticized. And after you go through all that, there are no guarantees of a happy ending. You both could be convicted."_

_Distant bells from the Academy carillon signaled the top of the hour. Boothby frowned. "Ah. We’re out of time, I’ve got to get the Champ here back before the shift change."_

_Chakotay rose, and Janeway stood with him. They looked at each other as if trying to memorize the moment. He lifted his hand to brush her cheek with the back of his fingers, and she reached and held his hand there. "See you soon," she said softly._

_He nodded but seemed unable to speak. Then he jerked his head away from her to look at Paris and Troi. "Thank you for this."_

_They nodded, and he turned and strode back down the path. Boothby touched Kathryn’s arm. "Don’t worry about him. He’s a fighter. He’ll go the distance."_

_She smiled. "Don’t I know it. Thanks, Boothby."_   
_As the gardener disappeared down the path, Kathryn turned back to Owen Paris. "So. What next?"_

_"I’ve got my contacts working on getting the right defense counsel for you. In the meantime, you need to brace yourself for a fight. It’s going to be ugly."_

_"Owen – what about Seven and the Doctor? And Neelix? Are they safe?"_

_He nodded. "For the time being. Tuvok got them to the Vulcan Embassy immediately and claimed citizenship for them, or asylum in the alternative. It will take quite a while to sort through the niceties. The Vulcans will protect them."_

_She considered for a moment, then turned to Troi. "Counselor, are you available for a new client? I think I could use a little help coping with this."_

_Deanna smiled. "As it happens, I am free for a few weeks."_  
***

"I have to stop there," Troi told Jake.

He nodded. "I understand. Thank you for telling me that much. I didn’t know about that meeting."

"As I said, no one did, except those of us that were there. I don’t think it matters much now if it comes out." She silently offered him another canapé, which he declined. "It was very hard for Kathryn to become such a public figure, but the media helped her case tremendously. As her friend, I want to thank you, even if it is fifty years later."

"It was the right thing to do," he said. "May I ask you one more question? How did Captain Janeway manage to get away with lying on the stand?"

Deanna’s eyebrows raised. "Did I say she lied?"

"She testified she and Chakotay were not lovers in the Delta quadrant, and based on everything I’ve learned, that isn’t true. They may not have been lovers as early as Seska thought, but it must have happened."

Troi gave him a bland smile. "You're probably more familiar with the transcripts than I am. If I did know anything about the trial strategy, I would have learned it in the course of the counselor-client relationship. No, I’m afraid I have nothing to say on that point, Jake." She rose gracefully. "I hope you’ll excuse me. Admiral Lindquist and Ambassador Ff’Renil will be arriving in an hour, and I have to change. You’re welcome to stay, but I think you’ll find it terribly boring. Frankly, I wouldn’t be here myself if I didn’t have to be. "

Jake stood. Ambassador Ff’Renil was the champion filibuster of the Federation Council; in Earth’s oxygen-rich atmosphere, he could – and often did - speak for a full five minutes without the necessity of drawing breath. "No, thank you. I appreciate your time, and please give my best to Admiral Riker."

"I will." She shook his hand cordially. "Good luck, Jake. I look forward to reading your book."

-To Be Continued-


	4. Unequal Laws

From The Written Transcript of the Court-Martial of Captain Kathryn Janeway, January, 2380:

Capt. Louvois: Captain Janeway, I will ask this once for the record so we can lay it to rest once and for all. What was the nature of your relationship with Commander Chakotay while on Voyager?

Capt. Janeway: I consider him not only one of the finest officers with whom I have served but also one of my closest friends and most trusted advisors.

Jake Sisko looked again at the transcript from Kathryn Janeway's court martial and frowned. The words remained the same at this reading as they had for the hundreds of times he had read it in the past. There it was, virtually a flat denial. Captain Janeway had stated under oath that she and Chakotay were merely friends and passed the ARA.

The autonomic response analysis, or ARA, had been standard courtroom equipment for more than a century. It was hard-wired into the witness stand, and as long as the technician entered the proper species of the individual giving testimony, it was believed to be infallible. The system compared the witness's physiological readings to that of the baseline for the species and issued an alert if any deviation from norms indicated intentional departures from the truth.

Why did this bother him so much? He realized that he had become almost obsessed with the question of the relationship between Janeway and Chakotay. It seemed to him that this was the secret to understanding Kathryn Janeway, the real Kathryn Janeway. The official version painted her as a competent, occasionally brilliant commander who sacrificed her personal life for her career. Green's unauthorized biography described a cold, repressed personality who developed a weird, co-dependent relationship with a few of her senior staff, including Chakotay. Jake knew in his heart that neither of these was correct. The Kathryn Janeway he had come to know through his research was more intelligent than Starfleet gave her credit for, and a much warmer, passionate woman than Green depicted. All of Jake's instincts told him that her relationship with Chakotay was the key to defining the woman.

He looked again at the transcript. As ludicrous as it seemed, this was the pivotal point in her defense; if the court had upheld the charge of conduct unbecoming an officer by conducting a sexual relationship with her prisoner, all the other charges would have been colored with the perception that she had been corrupted by her association with the enemy. She had answered her counsel's question with utter serenity and without tripping any ARA alerts.

He set the padd with the transcript aside and rifled through the piles of materials on his work desk until he found the record he sought. It was the raw material from an interview he conducted with Phillipa Louvois immediately after the verdict in the Janeway trial. Coincidentally, that day had been Captain Louvois' 65th birthday - although she was doing her best to ignore that fact. Looking at the image now, he saw a middle-aged woman who was counting on nature to be gentle, with mixed results. Her hair was still auburn streaked with gold, and her figure still trim. The only truly visible indication of her age was her face, which had developed deep wrinkles from stress and worry. In the aftermath of the trial, she was still running on adrenaline and she seemed to radiate an unquenchable energy.

  
***  
_"No one wanted to take this case," the young Jake Sisko began. "Why did you?"_

_She smiled. "For the record, because I believed in my client and because I wanted a chance to go up against Cyrus Blue once more."_

_"And off the record?"_

_"Off the record, because I knew there wasn't an experienced JAG in the 'fleet willing to buck the Firsters. Captain Janeway was going to be saddled with a well-intentioned but completely green counsel. My career was stalled anyway, so I didn’t have much to lose. And it is true; I wanted to go up against Blue. I never liked his style – he can be overly-dramatic and too emotional. We've been on opposite sides of the table about a dozen times, and the outcomes were about even. I wanted a chance to deflate his ego a little bit."_

_Jake looked at her in surprise. Even given the emotion of the day, she was being remarkably forthcoming; Judge Advocate General officers were notoriously circumspect. She saw his surprise and laughed._

_"I may as well tell you, I’m leaving Starfleet. Warren Ntomo has offered me a partnership in his practice. It's time for me to try something else."_

_"Are you being forced out?"_

_"Not at all. But I feel I can accomplish more back on Earth than stuck out in the boondocks. This trial reminded me how much I miss being near the action."_

_Jake nodded. "You were still on Starbase 173 when Voyager came home, yet I've heard you actually pulled strings to get this assignment. How did you learn about it?"_

_She took another sip from her glass. "Picard told me about it."_

_"Captain Jean-Luc Picard? But…he was a member of the panel. Wasn't that some kind of conflict?"_

_"Not at all. He called me before he was appointed. We're old friends, and frankly, neither of us has been happy with the direction that Starfleet and the Federation have been heading the past few years. He asked me to make certain that Janeway had competent counsel, that's all. I concluded that there was no one more competent than me for the job."_

***  
Jake looked up. Things were beginning to fall into place now. Oddly, the Enterprise was the hub of all the assistance rendered to the Voyager crew on their return. Barclay, a former Enterprise crew member, had warned Janeway to expect trouble; O'Brien, also a former crew member, had helped bring Voyager's return to the public eye; Riker had learned of the secret deals being offered; Troi had helped convince Janeway and Chakotay to fight rather than accept the deals. In that context, it made perfect sense that Picard would have persuaded Louvois to take the case.

Louvois had made the trip from Starbase 173 to Earth in record time, and was present for Janeway's arraignment. She refused to waive the reading of the charges and specifications, so the entire outrageous list was read aloud to the general public.

  * One charge of Improperly Hazarding the Vessel: specifically, running Voyager between binary pulsars.
  * One charge of Cruelty to a Prisoner: specifically, threatening Crewman Noah Lessing, prisoner, with death at the hands of hostile aliens.
  * Twenty-eight charges of Releasing Prisoners Without Proper Authority: specifically, the entire crew of the Liberty.
  * Five charges of Failure to Obey a Regulation, specifically, four violations of the Prime Directive (interference with the normal development of the Ocampa; violating the laws of Akitiria by liberating two crewmen, duly convicted by the laws of the Akitirian government, from prison; providing technology to the Hirogen in exchange for safe passage; and interfering with the enforcement of Devoran law against citizens subject to Devoran jurisdiction) and one violation of the Omega Directive.
  * Three charges of violations of the General Article, specifically, failing to accept Q's offer of transport to the Alpha quadrant; failing to accept technology offered by the Borg Queen which would have enabled a quick return; and making a deal with the Borg to combat species 8472.
  * One charge of Conduct Unbecoming An Officer, specifically: engaging in a sexual relationship with "a prisoner under her command", meaning Chakotay, and insinuating that the relationship began even before he accepted her offer of melding the crews.



About the only thing that was missing was a charge of inciting a riot on Voyager when the Beijing arrived. Apparently Hays thought better of trying to prove that one.

Louvois and Janeway had stood stoically, showing no emotion while the charges were read, and then entered a plea of "not guilty" to each of them. As they left the Starfleet Judicial Building, they were swamped by a phalanx of reporters, including Jake. Louvois stopped to make a statement.

***  
_"My client has entered a plea of 'not guilty' to the charges filed against her, and we have no doubt that she will be exonerated when the matter is finally tried. The trial will be conducted in accordance with the procedures of Starfleet and not in the press, so we will not be making further comment."_

_Several reporters looked crestfallen but Jake pressed forward. "Captain Louvois, without commenting on the specifics of the charges, do you have any reaction to them?"_

_Phillipa Louvois gave him a long, hard look. "Jake Sisko, right? Ben Sisko's son?" When he nodded, she said, "The last time I saw this much hogwash was the summer of '29, when I worked on my grandfather's pig farm. Captain Janeway's remarkable accomplishments are being tarnished for what appears to be solely political motivation, and we should all be ashamed."_

_"Was she sleeping with the Maquis renegade?"_

_The question was shouted by Tomar Rys from the Independent News Service, standing on the periphery of the crowd. INS was solidly in the Federation First camp, and the animosity in her voice was unmistakable. Both Janeway and Louvois turned to her. Janeway started to answer, but Louvois laid a hand on her arm. "I assume you are referring to Voyager's first officer, Commander Chakotay. The evidence will answer that question, Ms. Rys. We have no further comment."_

_"If she slept with the Maquis, how can we trust her judgment on anything? She abandoned Starfleet principles."_

_Louvois fixed a hard glare on her, and Rys backed up a step. "Ms. Rys, you are engaging in the kind of evil speculation that distorts the truth. I urge you to wait until the evidence is presented before you make a judgment. My client does not want sympathy; she wants only to have an opportunity to make her case and be judged on the facts. We have no further comment."_  
***

Whether she knew it or not, Tomar Rys had revealed the strategy of the prosecution: to establish that Janeway had been weak enough to succumb to a sexual relationship with Chakotay from the beginning, and allowed that relationship to influence all of her subsequent decisions. There was enough lingering resentment against the Maquis that it could be effective; although there had never been an official act naming the Maquis an enemy of the Federation, in the minds of many that was exactly what they had been. A commander who would sleep with the enemy was not to be trusted or respected – at least, that was the prosecution hoped the court-martial panel would believe.

The trial itself convened quickly, at Louvois's insistence. It was open to the public in accordance with Starfleet regulations, and Jake attended with a seat in the gallery reserved for the press. From there, he had a clear view of the entire courtroom. Janeway's family and closest friends, including her mother and sister, Admiral Paris and his wife, Tuvok and other Starfleet members of Voyager's crew, occupied the rows directly behind the defense table. Admiral T'Sora, the third highest-ranking officer in the JAG corps, sat as the judge. The court reporter and the chief technician, responsible for the calibration of the ARA, were seated in front of the judge.

The composition of the panel, or jury, represented a major victory for Louvois even before the trial began. Under regulations, the five-member panel had to consist of officers of equal or greater rank than the defendant. Although the prosecution had tried to pack the panel with admirals with little actual deep space experience, the final panel was composed of only one desk-bound admiral, Rear Admiral Edward Jellico, a known Federation First supporter. The other four were captains with starship commands: Jean-Luc Picard and Marcia Despatie, both of whom were known to oppose the Firsters; Aaron Cole, a veteran of the Battle of Cardassia Prime and vocal Firster; and Pandora Franklin, who had come up against the Maquis many times in the early 70's but whose political leanings were unknown. A simple majority vote would be sufficient for the verdict, so Franklin was the key member.

Captain Cyrus Blue was the prosecuting officer. He was one of the most experienced trial counsel in the JAG, and he was a public supporter of the Federation First movement. It was apparent from his opening statement that the prosecution of Kathryn Janeway was not just an assignment for him – it was a personal crusade.

  
***  
_Yes, Captain Janeway is to be admired for bringing her ship home safely. But at what cost? How many times were the principles of the Federation cast aside in the name of expediency? How many times did she violate our cardinal rule, our Prime Directive, for the sake of a shortcut or to ease the journey? How many times did she ignore, bend and break the regulations of Starfleet that she solemnly promised to uphold?_

_It may be argued that under the circumstances, the end justifies the means. Captain Janeway did what she did to bring her crew home. No one here will contest the validity of that goal. But were her actions forced by necessity – or do they reflect something else? The record will show that in those instances that resulted in the charges brought against her, Captain Janeway failed to consider alternatives more in keeping with the standards of Starfleet. This failure was the direct result of the personal and inappropriate relationship she developed with the very man she had been sent to arrest, the Maquis rebel Chakotay – a relationship confirmed by a member of Chakotay's crew._

_"There is no one in this room who cannot sympathize with the loneliness and isolation that Captain Janeway must have felt upon realizing the terrible fact that her ship was 75,000 light years from home. But instead of rising above it, she surrendered to that loneliness and allowed an enemy of the Federation to assume a position of power on her ship, both professionally and personally, a power that corrupted and undermined her judgment. This court will see that each of Captain Janeway's maverick and inappropriate decisions can be traced to the Maquis mentality of selfish expediency insinuated into her consciousness by her lover._  
***

Jake remembered the look on Captain Janeway's face as Blue spoke those words. She sat, attentive but relaxed, her face showing nothing more than polite interest until Blue attributed her actions to Chakotay. Then, so subtly he almost missed it, she smiled. At the time, he had not known how to interpret that smile.

Blue opened his case with the intent of proving the charge of "Conduct Unbecoming An Officer." If he could establish the relationship between the Captain and the Maquis, he could seriously damage Janeway's credibility with regard to the rest of the charges. Even Picard would have to be swayed by such weakness in command.

Jake pulled out the written transcript and found the prosecution's "smoking gun" – the evidence that seemed to be the most damning of Janeway.

***  
_Capt. Blue : The prosecution would like to introduce its Exhibit A, an entry from the personal log of Ensign Seska of the USS Voyager._

_Adm. T’Sora: I understand that the defense has stipulated as to the authenticity of this record._

_Capt. Louvois : Yes, your honor. We do not doubt that this entry was created by the Cardassian spy, Seska._

_Adm. T'Sora : Captain Louvois, please refrain from characterization of the witness._

_Capt. Louvois : My apologies, your honor. Since Captain Blue characterized her as an ensign, I felt at liberty to do so._

_Adm. T’Sora : Please refrain from extraneous comments, Captain. Proceed, Captain Blue._

_Capt. Blue : Thank you. I will now play, for the record, an entry from the personal log of Seska, dated stardate 48656.93._

_Voice of Seska: I’ve lost him. I’ve lost Chakotay. He’s taken Janeway as a lover, I’m sure of it. At first, I thought he was just being clever – seducing her to gain her confidence until he could make a move. Now I know better. He’s infatuated with her. [a huff of breath] It’s humiliating, really. She’s not his type – scrawny, bookish and probably passive as a log in bed. Worst of all, stupid. First she got us stuck here and now she refuses to see what needs to be done. If we’re going to survive, we have to have allies and if that means sharing some of our precious Federation technology, so be it. He’s so besotted he can’t see what’s important any more. [pause] The sex can’t be as good as it was with me. If I’m patient and clever, he’ll come back to me. He’ll come back._

_Adm. T’Sora : Quiet in the courtroom._

_Capt. Louvois : For the record, your honor, I renew our objection. That testimony is entirely hearsay._

_Capt. Blue: I ask the court’s indulgence. As you know, Seska did not survive and cannot be called for direct examination. This entry was made less than two days before she left Voyager. It should have the effect of a dying declaration, or at the very least, a journal made in the routine course of business._

_Capt. Louvoi s: A dying declaration? Or the jealous fantasy of a spurned lover? Or even the desperate record of a spy who feared that someday she might need to explain to her Cardassian masters why she lost her position of influence on the ship? Seska lived for more than a year after that entry was made, your honor. It is ludicrous to dignify it with the impact of a dying declaration, and insulting to credit it was a routine journal entry._

_Adm. T’Sora : I concur that this cannot be considered a dying declaration. I am going to defer a ruling on the journal issue. I caution you, Capt. Blue, if you do not produce some corroboration for this record, it will be struck from the record._

_***_

Captain Blue had looked quite dissatisfied with that statement, Jake remembered. He apparently had expected the Judge to accept the entry without question. The next witness he called was the clerk of the court, for the sole purpose of reading portions of Captain Janeway’s medical file into the record. Ordinarily, the ship’s doctor would have been called for this purpose, but in pre-trial motions the EMH had been excluded from giving testimony on the grounds that the veracity of a hologram could not be confirmed. In addition, the EMH was still at the Vulcan Embassy, claiming asylum.

Although both lawyers stipulated that the logs were the accurate records of the CMO, there had been a brief debate among the lawyers as to whether the CMO’s logs were admissible if the CMO himself could not be called as a witness. Admiral T’Sora finally ruled that the logs could be entered as a record kept in the regular routine of duty.

At Blue’s instruction, the clerk read portions of Captain Janeway’s medical records that documented that she maintained chemical contraceptive use the entire seven years in the Delta quadrant. The implication that contraceptive use equated with sexual activity caused Captains Franklin and Despatie to frown deeply, but Jellico nodded as if a vital point had been made. Louvois then rose for the cross-examination.

  
***  
_Capt. Louvois : Thank you. Crewman Chen, will you please locate the entry of the Chief Medical Officer dated 53664.23, and – with my sincere apologies to my client and this court for delving into such a personal matter – read it?_

 _Cwmn. Chen : This afternoon I consulted with Captain Janeway concerning the benefits of pursuing a relationship with a holographic character. The cumulative effect of years of command isolation and the lack of physical intimacy is taking a toll on her, and she recognizes that fact. We discussed the limited options available to her in our present circumstances for intimate relationships, since as Captain she cannot indulge in a relationship with a subordinate and there are no other opportunities for a long-term partner. She expressed reservations about using the holodeck for this purpose but agreed to consider it. It is signed by the CMO, Voyager._  
_***_

  
While this was read aloud, Janeway sat absolutely still. Her face flushed with embarrassment as the clerk droned on, but otherwise she showed no reaction to the testimony. Blue called Harry Kim to the stand next. The direct examination lasted nearly three hours, as Kim provided details on a number of issues in the charges. It was the exchange about the relationship with Chakotay, though, that Jake focused on as he reviewed the transcript.  
_***_

  
_Capt. Blue : How would you characterize the relationship between Captain Janeway and Chakotay, Lt. Kim?_

_Lt. Kim : They were – are – very good friends as well as colleagues._

_Capt. Blue: When Voyager returned to the Alpha quadrant, Mr. Kim, did you observe Chakotay kiss Captain Janeway?_

_Lt. Kim: Yes, I believe so. She also kissed –_

_Capt. Blue : Thank you. Tell me, Lieutenant, do you believe Captain Janeway was in love with Chakotay?_

_Lt. Kim [pause] I don’t know. The Captain didn't take me into her confidence._

_Capt. Blue: No, but you were on the bridge every day with her. Did you ever observe her touch Chakotay unnecessarily?_

_Lt. Kim: The Captain touched everyone unnecessarily, including the Commander. She’s a touchy kind of person._

_Capt. Blue: Isn’t it true, Lieutenant, that there was a betting pool on how many times the Captain would touch Chakotay in the course of a shift and that you won?_

_Lt. Kim : Yes._

_Capt. Blue: Was there ever a betting pool on how many times she would touch someone else?_

_Lt. Kim: No._

_Capt. Blue: I ask you again, Lieutenant - do you believe that Captain Janeway was in love with Chakotay?_

_Lt. Kim: [pause] Yes, I do._

_Capt. Blue: And believing that, isn't it possible that they were lovers?_

_Lt. Kim: No, sir._

_Capt. Blue: No? In a whole universe of possibilities, you maintain it is impossible for a woman in love with a man to take that man as her lover?_

_Lt. Kim: You don’t know Captain Janeway. As much as I think she loved the Commander, she loved us more. She would never place her personal happiness above the welfare of the ship._

_Capt. Blue: [pause]. Turning now to the Akitirian incident –_  
***

Blue also called Tuvok as a witness in a lengthy examination that covered almost every charge. Although Tuvok noted that he had not agreed initially with several of Janeway's decisions, including the decision to meld the Maquis into the crew, time had proven her correct. Jake thumbed through the transcript to find the passage he wanted to review.

***  
_Capt. Blue: You served with Captain Janeway a number of years before taking the undercover assignment with the Maquis, is that correct?_

_Lt. Cmdr. Tuvok : Yes. That is correct._

_Capt. Blue: Did you consider Captain Janeway a friend?_

_Lt. Cmdr. Tuvok : Yes. I still do._

_Capt. Blue: And you were the Security Officer of Voyager?_

_Lt. Cmdr. Tuvok: Yes._

_Capt. Blue: In your capacity as Security Officer, did you regard Chakotay and the other Maquis as a security risk?_

_Lt. Cmdr. Tuvok: Initially, yes. It would have been illogical to do otherwise._

_Capt. Blue: Did the Captain share your concern?_

_Lt. Cmdr. Tuvok : Yes, although not to the same degree._

_Capt. Blue : Please elaborate._

_Lt. Cmdr Tuvok: The Captain believed that there might have been isolated individuals among the Maquis who were not to be trusted, although until Seska revealed herself she did not know who these might be._

_Capt. Blue: Was Chakotay among those she suspected?_

_Lt. Cmdr Tuvok: No. Nor was Lt. Torres. She trusted them both completely._

_Capt. Blue: Did you share this trust?_

_Lt. Cmdr. Tuvok : As I said, not initially._

_Capt. Blue: Why do you suppose Captain Janeway was so willing to trust Chakotay, a man she knew to be a dangerous opponent of the Federation?_

_Lt. Cmdr. Tuvok: I do not indulge in supposition. However, during our years together I have observed that Captain Janeway is often able to judge the character of other humans swiftly and accurately._

_Capt. Blue: Did you ever suspect that Captain Janeway was engaging in a sexual relationship with Chakotay?_

_Lt. Cmdr. Tuvok: Yes._

_Capt. Blue : Did you act on that suspicion?_

_Lt. Cmdr. Tuvok: Yes._

_Capt. Blue : What did you do, Commander?_

_Lt. Cmdr. Tuvok: I asked the Captain if that was the case. She assured me it was not._

_Capt. Blue: When was this?_

_Lt. Cmdr. Tuvok: Stardate 51245.6, shortly after a group of aliens attempted to conduct scientific experiments on the crew._

_Capt. Blue: Shortly after she ordered the ship to fly between a binary pulsar._

_Lt. Cmdr. Tuvok: Yes._

_Capt. Blue: So she denied the relationship. Did you do anything further, or did you accept her word?_

_Lt. Cmdr. Tuvok: I accepted her word. There was no reason to do otherwise._  
_***_

Jake looked up from the transcript. If Tom Paris had been correct, the conversation Tuvok described took place shortly after Janeway had ended the relationship. Tuvok had not lied: at the moment of the conversation he reported, the Captain and the Commander were not together. Tuvok had not lied, but he almost certainly had not told the entire truth.

  
Although it wasn't pertinent to his quest, Jake skipped ahead to the cross-examination conducted by Phillipa Louvois. She had released him from the stand after Blue finished, and then recalled him during the defense's case-in-chief, just before Janeway took the stand. She posed only one question about the relationship between her client and Voyager's first officer.

_***_  
_Capt. Louvois: I'm curious, Mr. Tuvok. What would your reaction have been if you had learned that Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay were involved?_

 _Lt. Cmdr. Tuvok: Although it would have been a breach of protocol, I would not have lodged a serious objection. Commander Chakotay proved himself to be an honorable man and able officer, and he made it clear that the welfare of the ship and the wellbeing of the Captain were his first priorities. Under our circumstances the burden of command was a heavy one, and I believe that a relationship with Commander Chakotay would have helped her bear it._  
***

Captain Blue called several more witnesses from the Voyager crew, but none of them offered testimony that differed from Kim or Tuvok in any significant respect. In fact, with the exception of Tuvok, every witness had been obviously reluctant to offer any testimony against Captain Janeway – a fact that did not go unnoticed by any of the press covering the trial. The testimony that was anticipated to provide a boost to the prosecution was that of Crewman Noah Lessing, the purported victim in the charge of Cruelty to a Prisoner. On direct examination, Lessing recounted how Captain Janeway had left him at the mercy of aliens intent on killing him because he refused to provide information about the location of the Equinox. Louvois' cross-examination established the facts surrounding the event, including the fact that the Equinox had deliberately left Voyager alone to face the wrath of the aliens the Equinox had been systematically murdering.

***  
_Capt. Louvois : Were you injured in the encounter, Crewman?_

_Cwmn Lessing : No, ma'am. I was scared shi – I mean, I was pretty scared, but I wasn't hurt. Commander Chakotay got me out before the aliens got to me._

_Capt. Louvois : Did Captain Janeway interfere with Commander Chakotay as he did this? Did she order him to stop?_

_Cwmn. Lessing : No, ma'am. She just watched._

_Capt. Louvois : Have you ever heard the phrase 'good cop, bad cop,' Mr. Lessing?_

_Cwmn. Lessing : Yes, ma'am. It's possible that's what they were doing. I never asked them._

_Capt. Louvois : Thank you, Mr. Lessing. You may step down._

_Cwmn Lessing : Your Honor? Can I say something else?_

_Adm. T'Sora : This is irregular, Crewman, but under the circumstances I will allow it. Make your statement._

_Cwmn. Lessing : I've heard people say that the relationship between the Captain and the Commander was inappropriate. That's wrong. Maybe you needed to see how poisonous the relationship between Captain Ransom and Commander Burke was to know that. Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay were better officers because they listened to each other. They got us home in a way we could be proud of, and I don't understand why you all don't see that._

_Capt. Blue : Your Honor –_

_Adm. T'Sora : Sit down, Captain. Thank you, Mr. Lessing. Your comment will be noted in the record. You are excused._  
***

Blue closed his case after that, but not before Louvois renewed her objection to the admissibility of Seska's log entry. Admiral T'Sora did not even recess to consider the motion, but ruled on it from the bench. "In light of the fact that the prosecution has failed to produce even one piece of corroborating testimony which would elevate the log entry of Ensign Seska to anything other than hearsay. The motion to exclude therefore is granted."

It was a huge victory for the defense, not only because the prosecution had nothing else to support that charge but also because it exposed the weakness of the overall case. The entire trial was suddenly cast in a different light, a light that favored Captain Janeway.

Rather than continue reading the transcript, Jake pulled up the unedited FNS holo-vid coverage of the trial, beginning with the case-in-chief of the defense. Perhaps watching the scene would trigger some insight that so far eluded him.

The courtroom was very much as it had been throughout the trial, only some new observers came when the defense opened its case. Reg Barclay, Lewis Zimmerman and Deanna Troi joined the Janeway and Paris families in the row immediately behind the defense table. Witnesses had been sequestered prior to testifying, but once excused they were free to observe the trial, so the gallery was filling up with former Voyager crew.

Louvois had called only a few witnesses during her case-in-chief. Her first witness was Neelix, who came to the courtroom in the company of the Vulcan Ambassador. There was a bit of a buzz in the courtroom as the Talaxian rather nervously took the stand. Her questions focused on the dangers of the Delta quadrant, and Neelix appeared happy to recount the longstanding hostilities between the Talaxians and the Haakonians, Kazon and the Trabe, the Kazon and the Ocampa, and the Kazon among themselves. Jake barely suppressed a shiver at the description of the Vidiians and how they had helped themselves to both of Neelix's lungs. The list of aggressively hostile aliens went on and on, touching on the Swarm, the Hirogen, the Devore, the Hazari, the Vodwaar and Species 8472. Then Neelix began to describe the subtler problem of the nonagressive but unfriendly species, such as the Enarians, the Akitirians, and the Sakari. He finished with a discussion of the Borg.

Jake studied the faces of the panel as Neelix spoke. At first, they each maintained a stoic expression, not willing to give away anything. Picard broke first, showing surprise as Neelix described the visits from Q. Despatie seemed to be hooked by the description of various Kazon sects. When Neelix described Species 8472, Franklin and Cole leaned forward, intently listening to every word. By the time he described the ship's various encounters with the Borg Queen, even Jellico was listening raptly. The hardships and privations Voyager had experienced became more real than ever before in the simple words of the sincere Talaxian.

Blue also noted the keen attention from the panel, and decided to forgo cross-examination of the witness. The little alien was so earnest, and so clearly devoted to Janeway, Jake guessed the prosecutor realized he would only antagonize the panel if he pressed for an answer.

Louvois next called Seven of Nine. Like Neelix, she had arrived with the protection of the Vulcans. Her testimony was key on several of the charges, particularly those involving the Borg. Not surprisingly, Picard followed the questioning with riveted attention. Seven described her own assimilation, the manner in which she was freed from the Collective and provided details on both her own return to individualism and the subsequent confrontations with the Borg. The courtroom was absolutely silent as she described the decision of Janeway, Tuvok and Torres to permit themselves to be assimilated in order to create a resistance movement within the Collective.

Blue tried to be polite with Seven, but his animosity toward her became increasingly evident as his examination wore on. By the end, when she refused to concede that she had been sent aboard Voyager as an agent of the Borg, he became positively hostile towards her.

Louvois conducted a gentle re-direct examination, notable in Jake's mind only for one thing. She had remained seated during her questioning, focused on her notes, but looked up to ask her last question. "A great deal has been made of Captain Janeway's relationship to various members of her crew. How would you describe your relationship with her?"

Seven of Nine looked from Louvois to Janeway, and her expression softened for a moment. Then she returned her gaze to the lawyer. "Captain Janeway is the only mother I have ever known."  


After Seven, Louvois recalled Tuvok to the stand. He testified for two and a half days, going over every significant decision Janeway made in the Delta quadrant, whether part of the charges or not. She kept him on the stand until just before the lunch break.

The next witness was Janeway herself. The courtroom quieted as she took the stand and affirmed her obligation to tell the truth. Louvois took a long time establishing Janeway's background and record prior to Voyager, noting her rapid rise to command and numerous commendations for valor. Then she paused, and looked directly at her client.

"What was the nature of your relationship with Commander Chakotay while on Voyager?"

Janeway kept her eyes fixed on Louvois as she answered. "I consider him not only one of the finest officers with whom I have served but also one of my closest friends and most trusted advisors."

That was all Louvois had asked on the subject. Almost immediately she moved on to questions that related to the decision to incorporate the Maquis into Voyager’s crew, and she never came back to the issue of the relationship again.

Direct examination on all of the charges took nearly two entire days of testimony. Jake fast-forwarded until he reached the moment that Cyrus Blue rose to conduct cross-examination. The man walked with an ease that seemed at odds with the intensity of his stare as he approached the witness stand.  
  
"Captain Janeway, what was the nature of your relationship with Chakotay?"

Louvois was on her feet almost immediately. "Asked and answered, Your Honor."

Blue turned to the bench. "The prosecution believes the answer was incomplete. I simply want to be clear on this point."

Admiral T'Sora nodded. "Overruled. Answer the question, Captain Janeway."

Janeway met his eyes levelly. "He was my executive officer, the finest I have ever served with. And he was – is – one of my closest friends."

Blue shook his head. "Come now, Captain, you can be more specific than that."

She did not flinch from his gaze. "All right. He is the most trusted confidante and advisor I have had in my career."

"Is that all?"

"You make that sound insignificant and somehow tainted, sir." A faint flush crept over her cheeks as she spoke. "I was 75,000 light years from home in uncharted territory, and Lt. Commander Tuvok was the only officer with whom I had worked before. A third of my crew had no Starfleet experience and initially had no reason to trust my leadership. Without Commander Chakotay's friendship and counsel, I doubt we would have survived the first year."

Blue waved his hand dismissively, as if her statement had been meaningless. "That's very loyal, but irrelevant." His eyes narrowed and he pronounced each word with cutting precision. "Were you his lover, Captain?"

"You're really asking if I allowed my relationship with Chakotay to undermine my authority or influence my judgment."

"Answer yes or no –"

"Look at my logs, sir." She cut him off and kept speaking when he tried to interrupt her. "Chakotay disagreed with me on many decisions – some of them related to the charges at issue in this trial. I always did what I deemed to be in the best interest of my ship and crew, and he supported me, whatever his personal opinion. Perhaps if I had listened to him more often, I wouldn't be sitting here now."

The prosecutor turned to the judge, clearly frustrated. "Your honor, please instruct the witness" – he wheeled about and pointed at Janeway – "to stop evading the question and answer."

Admiral T'Sora nodded. "Indeed. Captain Janeway, you must respond."

"With all due respect, Your Honor, I am responding." Her hands gripped the arm of the chair until her knuckles were white. "There was only one captain on Voyager, and it was me. I may have made some questionable decisions, but they were mine, and no one else's." 

  
Blue's voice raised with barely suppressed anger, and he took hold of the witness box and leaned in toward her. "This is very simple, Captain. Did you have a sexual relationship with Chakotay? Yes or no."

"Yes – Chakotay was my best friend. No I did not let it influence my command." Janeway’s voice was colder than open space, but her eyes were blue fire.

"Damn it, are you saying that you were sexually intimate? Yes or no?" Blue demanded, banging his fist down on the railing of the witness box.

Janeway leaned forward so that her face was only centimeters from his. Her voice dropped in pitch but was completely audible and sharp enough to cut glass. "This isn't about the truth of the relationship. You're asking for pornographic details to parade on the news nets. You want to me to say that I was so weak, I traded my command for the sake of a really good fuck."

Oblivious to the audible gasps from the gallery, she rose from the chair, gripping the edge of the witness box and shaking visibly. "Well, you can go to hell, sir, because it didn't happen that way and there are no salacious details for public consumption."

Admiral T'Sora's shoulders jerked slightly and she looked at Janeway with disapproval. "Captain Janeway -"

But Janeway didn't seem to hear her. Her eyes never left Blue, and her icy anger turned red hot. "Take me down for what I did, Mister, because God knows I made plenty of mistakes, but not this. Not this. I was alone out there. Do you know what that means?" She turned toward the panel and locked eyes with Aaron Cole. "Do you have any idea? The prospect of no orders, no maintenance and no back up for seventy-five years, or so I thought. I was lucky – Starfleet was lucky – that I had an officer of his integrity and ability with me and this attempt to discredit me by demeaning him and our relationship is beneath contempt."

T'Sora banged the gavel. "Captain Janeway, you will control yourself."

She turned to the judge, looking almost surprised. "I – I'm sorry. I apologize, Your Honor. This is very difficult. It feels as if Captain Blue is trying to look into my bed as well as my mind, and I have never been comfortable with voyeurism."

Captain Blue glanced at the panel. Cole and Franklin were frowning, deep in thought. Picard had folded his arms with an expression of disgust on his face. Jellico was unreadable, but Despatie was smiling grimly and nodding as if in agreement.

He turned away, and took half a step toward the prosecution table, as if he were planning to sit. Halfway there he froze, as his eyes fell upon Admiral Necheyev in the gallery. She stared at him pointedly, her arms folded across her chest.

Taking a short breath, Blue faced Janeway again. "It is your testimony, then, that the relationship with Chakotay was not sexual?"

Phillipa Louvois jumped to her feet. "Objection, Your Honor. Surely now this question has been explored in exquisite and embarrassing detail. The Prosecution is badgering the witness."

Blue's jaw clenched. "I simply want to be clear."

"You said that ten minutes ago, sir. How much sexual clarity do you crave?"

"I believe this witness has been bluntly clear," Admiral T'Sora said. Her voice was pickled with distaste for the emotional scene that had erupted. "The witness has testified that her relationship with Chakotay was one of friendship, and there has been no ARA alert to suggest otherwise. The objection is sustained. Move on, sir."

"But Your Honor – "

"Move on, Captain."  


"Computer, freeze image." Jake stared at the dark screen for three full seconds before he started to laugh.

Fifty years ago, he had left that courtroom and reported that Kathryn Janeway, under oath and subject to the ARA, denied having a sexual relationship with Chakotay. For fifty years, he had read the transcripts and reinforced that perception. For fifty years he and everyone else had believed that.

But now, he realized, she had done no such thing. Like everyone in the courtroom, including Admiral T'Sora, he had come away from that exchange with the impression that she had been vehement in her denial, in part because she had been so uncharacteristically angry. Most analysts, himself included, interpreted that anger as righteous indignation at the suggestion that she would have breached protocol in such a way. Green used it to demonstrate his theory that she was repressed, and offended by the very notion of sex.

But, Jake thought, what if that anger had been deliberate? What if it was a strategy for dealing with the issue? Janeway had spent several weeks in consultation with Deanna Troi. Who better than a Betazoid counselor to coach her on the art of generating emotional responses?

She had been intentionally crude and vulgar in front of a Vulcan judge. Any member of that courteous and circumspect race would have been inclined to avoid any further outbursts of such nature. Who better than Tuvok, Janeway's trusted friend, to coach her on Vulcan sensibilities?

She had never lied. Jake looked at her words again and realized that she had not lied. She had simply redefined the questions, and then answered them truthfully. In fact, he realized as he looked over the transcript again, she might even have admitted it in one exchange. Who better than one of the top JAG litigators to coach her on the precision of words and splitting hairs?

For fifty years, he had been mistaken. Kathryn Janeway had not lied. She had told the truth, but she had told it in such a way that no further questions would be asked.

"End program." Jake began to organize his materials again, going over the rest of the trial in his mind. Louvois had rested her case after Janeway's testimony, and the panel had deliberated less than two days. Picard, the president of the panel, had solemnly read the verdict of "not guilty" to each and every charge. From the faces of the panelists, it was easy to tell the Jellico had been the lone vote against her. As the presiding judge over the trial, Admiral T'Sora had the last word.

"Captain Janeway, you are free to go. As you leave, please accept the profound respect of this Court. Your experiences and actions in the Delta quadrant deserve a place among the shining legends of Starfleet. It is to our shame that that we might have tarnished that legend with these proceedings. In the opinion of this court, you and your crew – every member of your crew – conducted themselves in accordance with the finest traditions of the Service. My hope is that each of them will be recognized for their contributions. My expectation is that this experience has served as a reminder to all of us of the fundamental purpose and mission of Starfleet – to boldly go where none have gone before. My recommendation, which will be forwarded to Starfleet High Command immediately after these proceedings, is that you receive the Medal of Valor for your actions. Thank you, Captain, for a job well done."

Apart from the hugs and exuberant relief of family, friends and crew, there was no celebration of the verdict. Janeway wouldn't permit it; too many of her crew were still in custody, waiting for their own trial. She left the courtroom in the company of her family, her face grim despite the victory of the day. As she walked out, she had caught the eye of Alynna Necheyev. Neither officer flinched, and neither looked conciliatory.

Jake turned again to his interview with Phillipa Louvois the day after the verdict, wondering if he had missed a clue about his new conclusions. During her career, she had been respected as an exceptional but by-the-book litigator. She was never known for elaborate stratagems or clever ploys. The Janeway trial apparently had some personal resonance for her, though; at that time she was disillusioned with Starfleet, and believed that the ideals she had worked so long to support had been undermined by 'fleet leadership. Had she planned this strategy?

***  
_"The pivotal issue in the trial seemed to be Captain Janeway's relationship with her first officer," Jake began._

_"Yes. Isn't that a sad commentary? I find it hard to believe we have degenerated to such a prurient society." Captain Louvois lifted her water glass and took a sip._

_"Are you convinced that the relationship was nothing more than friendship?"_

_She looked at him, her blue eyes opened wide. "Look at the testimony, Mr. Sisko. She answered the questions. She passed the ARA. What more do you need?" Then the corners of her mouth curved ever so slightly._  
***

What, indeed? Jake asked himself.

Now that he had resolved the mystery of Janeway's testimony, at least in his own mind, he felt ready to organize his notes on the Maquis trial. In some ways, it was even more dramatic than the court-martial. The question in Jake's mind was the degree to which Janeway contributed to that drama.

How much had she risked for Chakotay?

-To Be Continued-


	5. Part of All That I Have Met

Once the Janeway court martial was concluded, attention turned to the civil trial of Chakotay, Torres and the rest of his former crew. Where the court-martial had been comparatively sedate, clothed in the dignity and protocol of Starfleet, the Maquis trial had become the most controversial issue of the day. Jake pulled up his padd with the print media coverage of the time.

Editorial from The Times (Earth Edition), February 13, 2380, page A-15:

  
The adventures of the USS Voyager in the Delta quadrant are indeed remarkable and no one at this institution has any wish to denigrate those accomplishments in any way. What is being lost in the rapturous rhetoric, though, is that Voyager would never have been in the Delta quadrant in the first place had it not been on a mission to capture criminals. Criminals. As harsh as the word may seem, it is the accurate description of Chakotay and the members of his crew. We cannot and must not overlook the fact that they intentionally and willfully joined forces for the purpose of subverting Federation laws and Federation goals and objectives. It does not matter that the Treaty of 2370 was later repudiated; at the time, it was the law of the land and as such deserved respect and compliance.

Only history can be the judge of the moral correctness of laws. If we allow individuals to pick and choose which laws they will follow based on their own view of morality, chaos and anarchy will result. The law must be obeyed, and when it is not, it must be enforced.

It is never easy to condemn individuals who are in many ways admirable. It is even harder when their actions were based on a code of honor that, if not shared by all is at least understood by all. But peace and freedom do not come easily. They must be protected. They must be protected as diligently in times of peace as in times of war.

The Maquis flouted the laws of the Federation and waged guerilla warfare against it. This must be punished, and punished severely, if for no other reason than to send the message to others who may contemplate such action: we will not tolerate it. We will not forgive, we cannot forget. The protection of freedom demands no less.

Editorial from The Journal (Earth Edition). February 14, 2380, p. A-10:

  
Exactly who was hurt by the actions of Chakotay and the Maquis? Certainly the Cardassian Union was injured. Its property was destroyed, its citizens killed and injured. Is there anyone willing to stand up and say that the Federation has an obligation to redress that injury? Is there anyone who will disagree that the Maquis were in fact right when they claimed the Cardassians were not to be trusted?

Was the Federation injured by the Maquis? To an extent, yes. The greatest damage inflicted though, was not in the loss of life or destruction of property, but to the collective pride of our leadership. The High Council was shamed by a treaty that traded the lives of citizens for appeasement, and Starfleet was embarrassed by freedom fighters who consistently eluded capture. What should the punishment be for bruised pride?

There are those who claim this issue is about the sanctity of the law. It is not. Those who seek punishment of Chakotay and his crew are interested only in retribution. There is no other explanation for it. The Maquis are a reminder of a chapter in our history we would prefer to forget and the best way to do that is to condemn them and sweep them out of sight.

The Treaty of 2370 was a mistake. With the clarity of hindsight, the entire Federation now knows that it was a monumental error. The Maquis knew it at the time, but unlike the rest of us, they had the courage to take action. It is time that we acknowledge that publicly and begin to heal the wounds that still fester within. It is time to put the past behind us and concentrate on building the future. Even if Chakotay and his crew are guilty of violations of the law, it is time to look at what is right.

We should all remember the words of a great statesman, born on this date five centuries ago: "With malice toward none, with charity toward all, let us strive to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

If we are going to salvage a future worthy of our ideals, then it is time for mercy. It is time to do what is right and honorable. It is time forgive.

***

Jake looked at the two editorials and shook his head at the memory. The early months of 2380 had been among the most volatile in the recent history of the Federation. The acquittal of Kathryn Janeway had polarized the political factions within the Federation. The tactics and moral grounding of the Federation First movement had been exposed, and virtually no one remained "undecided" in the polls; those who had been on the fence jumped one way or the other, so that while the ranks of avowed Firsters swelled, so did their opposition. Peaceful demonstrations were held outside the penal facility in Kansas where Chakotay and his crew were being held, on the steps of the High Court in Bern, in the lobby of the Federation Administration Building in Paris, and outside the entrance to Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco. Violence broke out in pro-Maquis rallies held in Chicago and La Paz, resulting in the hospitalization of more than thirty and the arrest of forty-five. Although the situation was tense throughout the Federation, Earth – as the host of both Federation and Starfleet – was the hot spot, and the trial of Chakotay and his crew was the flash point.

Chakotay had refused his requests to be interviewed, as had B’Elanna Torres, but a year or two later, Miguel Ayala had agreed to speak with Jake about what that summer of confinement was like for the crew of the Liberty.

  
***  
_"It was pretty bad at first. Once they moved us to Leavenworth, we were pretty much cut off from everything on the outside. They didn’t allow us any visitors except our lawyers, and the warden read our letters to our families before they were sent. Every letter we received went through two or three readings before it was given to us. We weren’t physically abused but they made it as hard for us as possible. B’Elanna almost went crazy, separated from Tom and her baby."_

_Jake had heard rumors to that effect, but this was the first confirmation he had from any source. "Didn’t your lawyers object? That was a violation of the Treatment of Prisoners Act of 2310."_

_"Yeah, they objected. The warden made them file a formal complaint and while that was pending, they cut off our mail completely. It got better after Captain Janeway was acquitted. They let us have visitors after that, and stopped censoring our mail."_

_"According to the records I’ve seen, Captain Janeway was a regular visitor between her trial in December and yours in February."_

_Ayala smiled. "Yes, she came every week on visitors day. She was great. She made a point of talking to as many of us as possible, to let us know how many people were working for us. I think her visits were all that kept Chakotay going. He had a tough time being locked up like that."_

_"They were pretty close."_

_"I think I know where you’re heading, and I’m not going to touch it. Their relationship was their business, and as far as I know it was exactly what they said it was."_

_"Okay, okay. It’s just so … unexpected, you know? When they met, she was so ‘Fleet, and he was so …"_

_"Not ‘Fleet?" Ayala laughed. "Yeah, I know what you mean. But when they met, something clicked. They fit together. And wait – before you jump to conclusions, what I mean is they brought out the best in each other. They were better people together than they were apart."_

_Jake leaned back and looked at him speculatively. "Did Chakotay know about the surprise witnesses beforehand?"_

_"If he did, he sure didn’t say anything to us." Ayala paused, as if considering something. "I think the Captain told him what she had in mind, though. I remember, she came to visit a couple of weeks before the trial and they went off to a corner of the exercise park to talk privately. My son came that day, and we were having a sandwich about ten meters away. I wasn’t really paying any attention to them – when my boy was there, he was my universe – but all of a sudden Chakotay stood up and was yelling at her. This really grabbed my attention because I don’t think I had ever seen him lose his temper with her before, not ever."_

_"What did he say?"_

_"He said…he said, ‘Don’t do it, Kathryn. That’s not the way I want to win.’ Then she stood up and said something that I didn’t hear. Chakotay looked real unhappy and started to walk away from her. She said, ‘Don’t you understand? They’ve charged you with piracy against the Federation.’_

_" He stopped and turned around. ‘I’d have to have been in three places at the same time to do everything they say I did,’ he said to her. ‘That will come out at trial.’_

_"She glared at him – do you know the expression I mean? He was one of the few who could ever stand up to it. ‘And just how is that going to happen? The logs of the Liberty were destroyed in the Delta quadrant. It’s your word against their circumstantial evidence, and that won’t be enough.’_

_" ‘It will or it won’t, but we’ll leave it at that. I mean it, Kathryn. It’s the principle.’_

_" ‘Is it really principle, Chakotay, or is it pride?’ That stopped him. He couldn’t answer her, and he just glared back. After a moment she smiled at him, that kind of half-smile she has, and I knew he wasn’t angry anymore. He never could stay angry with her._

_"He said, ‘There is a certain poetic justice to it. You’re going to have to deal with B’Elanna. I’m not going to tell her about it.’ She said, ‘What the hell, it probably won’t work anyway.’ Then he hugged her, and they sat down again."_  
***

There were more notes, but that was what Jake had been looking for.

Green and others contended that once her own trial was over, Kathryn Janeway offered only token support to the other members of her crew still facing legal difficulties. They pointed to apparent lack of involvement in their defense; she was not even called as a witness on their behalf. The entire case rested on two witnesses whose appearance was entirely serendipitous – or so they claimed.

Jake disagreed. Janeway had known, he was sure of it. She had to have known who the first key witness would be. He remembered the look of satisfaction on her face when the first as the prosecutor turned red with surprise as the first vital witness was called to the stand. There was no surprise in her expression at all; in fact, she had seemed almost smug.

The trial had begun in mid-February, held in the Great Hall of the Federation High Court in Bern. Although the defendants had been offered the opportunity for individual trials, they insisted on one. "We'll hang together," B'Elanna Torres was quoted after the arraignment, to which the prosecutor, a native of Alpha Centauri named Colley Elk, replied, "We haven't asked for capital punishment yet, but if Ms. Torres insists, I'm sure it can be arranged."

Elk was not an enthusiastic supporter of the Federation First movement, but his brother had been a Starfleet officer killed by the Klingons at Ajilon Prime in the first phase of the Dominion War. Like many others, Elk blamed the Maquis for provoking the Klingons into hostilities and hence blamed them for his brother's death. He approached this prosecution with the fervor of a zealot.

The lead defense counsel was Warren Ntomo, possibly the most recognizable litigator on Earth. A former member of the Federation High Council, his rich bass voice had been a staple of news reports for twenty years. He had volunteered his services as defense counsel, stating that if ever he had seen a miscarriage of justice in the making, this was it.

As with the Janeway court martial, Jake was in the press gallery for FNS. The view was every bit as sweeping as at the Starfleet administration building. Every day, the twenty-eight defendants filed in and took seats at the large table brought in especially for the occasion. Chakotay always sat closest to Ntomo, with Torres immediately to his left. Every day, Janeway, Tuvok and Kim sat in the row immediately behind them, flanked by other members of the voyager crew.

Mr. Elk presented the prosecution’s case with obvious relish. Chakotay and the crew of the Liberty were charged with six different attacks against Federation property in a two-year period, some of them called "piracy" and some called "acts of terrorism" and some simply designated as theft. The evidence was largely circumstantial, as no one could positively identify the specific Maquis ship involved and not a single witness was able to link Chakotay to any of the allegations. By the time prosecution rested, though, witness after witness had testified to the acts of the Maquis and the fear, injury and damage they inflicted.

The mood in the courtroom became ugly as people remembered the ultimate outcome of the Maquis provocations – the outbreak of hostilities with the Klingons and the bloody first phase of the Dominion War. There were no other Maquis left to punish; those who survived the Cardassians were already in prison, following a barely noticed trial in the midst of the War. The crew of the Liberty was the only whipping boy remaining.

Through it all, Chakotay sat quietly, and his crew followed his example. They appeared resigned to accepting their role as representatives of the Maquis rather than unique individuals on trial.

The first witness Ntomo called was Tuvok. He led him through his tenure as a spy within Chakotay’s cell, and established that while Tuvok was on board, all attacks had been against Cardassian, not Federation, targets. Elk did his best to undermine that testimony.

  
***  
_Mr. Elk: The events on the Liberty occurred a long time ago, and you have been through a great deal since then. It is a lot to remember._

_Tuvok: I have an excellent memory. In addition, I made contemporaneous logs that were intended for Starfleet Intelligence._

_Mr. Elk: Yes. You submitted those logs upon your return to the Alpha quadrant, did you not?_

_Tuvok : The logs were submitted about a year prior to our return, once periodic communication with Starfleet had been established._

_Mr. Elk : My apologies. So you had been in the Delta quadrant about six years before those logs were submitted._

_Tuvok: That is correct._

_Mr. Elk : Lt. Commander, do you consider Chakotay to be your friend?_

_Tuvok: Over time, we developed mutual respect for one another, both as professionals and as individuals. As shipmates who experienced the privations of the Delta quadrant, we share a unique bond. However, we have never been confidantes. I consider the Commander to be my friend; I do not know if he would feel the same._

_Mr. Elk : As his friend, what do you hope the outcome of this trial will be? Do you wish to see him acquitted?_

_Tuvok : Since I do not believe he committed the crimes of which he is accused, I believe that acquittal would be appropriate._

_Mr. Elk : Given that bias, is it possible that your memory of events on the Liberty has influenced your desire to see your friend acquitte_d?

T _uvok_ _: There are several fallacies with that statement. First, it ascribes a human reaction to me. I am not human, sir, I am Vulcan, and as a Vulcan, I do not permit emotions to color my perception of events. Second, it overlooks the fact that the target of an attack is not open to subjective interpretation; it either was or was not a Cardassian target. To insinuate that I would change this key data in an official report borders on slander._

_Mr. Elk : Again, my apologies. To your knowledge, Lt. Commander, are there any records that would corroborate your reports? Any ship’s logs?_

_Tuvok : The Liberty was destroyed when Commander Chakotay sacrificed it to save Voyager. To my knowledge, the logs were destroyed with the ship._  
***

Everyone expected that Chakotay or one of the other defendants would be called next, but that was the first surprise. Jake reached for the FNS footage of the trial, wanting to see people’s reactions one more time. He found the spot he wanted, and watched intently as Ntomo rose, and spoke in his deepest voice, his most formal tones. "May it please the Court, I call to the stand the Honorable Riga Darket, Ambassador of the Cardassian Union to the United Federation of Planets."

The reaction of spectators in the room was so loud that Judge Hue was compelled to pound his gavel repeatedly, calling for order. Colley Elk was on his feet, trying to voice an objection above the noise. "Your Honor, the prosecution objects," he was finally heard. "The defense gave us no notice of this witness."

"To the contrary," Ntomo said. "If you will refer to our pre-trial disclosures, we stated that we would introduce logs from the Liberty. That is the purpose of this witness."

"The logs of the Liberty were destroyed," Elk snapped.

"It is true, the originals were destroyed with the ship in the battle against the Kazon." Ntomo smiled. "We located copies."

"From Starfleet Intelligence, which have already been presented."

"We discovered another, more complete source, your honor."

"Which the prosecution has not reviewed." Elk looked indignant.

"You made an assumption, Mr. Elk, and it was incorrect. That is not the defendant’s fault. Objection overruled." Judge Hue indicated the witness stand. "Please be seated, Mr. Ambassador."

Darket, relatively short for a Cardassian, sat easily on the chair. His expression was carefully neutral. Ntomo went through the formalities of identification and background, then turned to the matter at hand. "Mr. Ambassador, are you aware that an agent of the Obsidian Order infiltrated the defendant’s Maquis cell?

"Yes. It was Glinn Seska Meyl."

"And how is it that you have this knowledge?"

Darket looked at him evenly. "Until Legate Damar abrogated the treaty with the Dominion, I was a supervisor within the Obisidian Order. I helped train Seska and I was her contact during her assignment in the demilitarized zone."

The court began to buzz again, and Hue banged the gavel a few more times. Even though Cardassia maintained a minimal presence in the Federation, the news that its ambassador was a member of the Obsidian Order would not be well received.

Ntomo seemed unperturbed by the commotion. "What kind of reports did you receive from Seska while she was on this assignment?"

"Because of the nature of the assignment, she could not report on a regular schedule. However, when she did, her reports were always most thorough." Darket looked wistful. "She was one of our young stars."

"Did she ever report participation in an attack on a Federation or Starfleet target?"

"No. She stated that Chakotay refused to consider any primary target that wasn’t Cardassian. Part of her assignment was to persuade him to do so, so that Starfleet might step up its efforts to stop the Maquis." He glanced at Chakotay, who was very still and focused on something very far away. "We received her last report two days before the Liberty disappeared. She included a complete copy of the ship’s logs for the prior 18 months."

Ntomo returned to the defense table and raised a data crystal. "Is this that report?"

"It is."

"According to this, did the Liberty participate in the attack on Starbase 167?"

"No."

"Did it participate in the diversion that permitted weapons to be smuggled off Deep Space Nine?"

"No."

"Did it participate in overt or covert action directed against a Federation target?"

"No."

Darket's testimony had been electrifying, and the effect was visible on the faces of the jurors. For the first time, they began to look at Chakotay and the others with thoughtful speculation rather than hostility. From her seat in the row immediately behind the defense table, Janeway had scanned each of their faces and smiled a small, secretive smile.

No one noticed it but Jake. It was that smile that had convinced him that she was perhaps the only person in the courtroom other than Warren Ntomo who expected Darket to testify. And it was that thought that planted the first seeds of doubt in his mind about her relationship with Chakotay. Up to that point, he had believed her when she said they were just friends. That smile was not merely smug, it was almost proprietary.

He ran a hand over his carefully shaved head and stared at the FNS vid record. He could watch the rest of Darket's testimony for the nine thousand and ninety-ninth time, or … he could take a shower. He opted for the shower.

His neck and shoulders had finally relaxed under the spray of the hot water when it hit. Elim Garek, Chief Legate of Cardassia, had ordered his ambassador to testify at the Maquis trial. Why? What had prompted Garek to insert Cardassia in a Federation matter at a point in time when Cardassia was the poor relative of the quadrant?

If any would know, Julian Bashir would. But Julian was on the USS Telemachus, somewhere near the Tholian border, and couldn't be reached for non-military or family matters. Then he remembered. Dax. If Julian knew, Dax would know. Ezri and Julian had still been together then. He turned off the water, and without bothering to dry himself off, slipped on a thick terry robe and ran to his comm unit. It took less than a minute to enter the code for Deep Space Eleven.

In a moment, the screen switched to the message "Audio Only" and he heard the sleepy voice of Ezri Dax. "Yes? Who is it? Jake, is that you?" The "Audio" message was immediately replaced by Ezri’s face, her sleep-heavy eyes lit with concern and a bathrobe clutched up to her neck. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"No, no – I just forgot about the time difference. I’m sorry, Ezri – I’ll call back in the morning."

She waved a hand. "S’okay. I have to be up in an hour anyway, and it’s going to be a crowded day. What’s up?"

"I’m still working on the book." He didn’t have to tell Ezri which book; he had bent her ear about this project many times over the years. "There’s some missing pieces about the Maquis trial, and it I wondered if you might know something about it. Especially how Garak got involved."

She looked back at him quizzically. "I wondered if you’d ever ask me that, and I wondered what I’d do if you did."

Surprised, he perked up. "You do know something, don’t you?"

"Well, of course I do, Jake. Julian and I were on Cardassia Prime at the time. The thing is, Kathryn Janeway asked us not to discuss her involvement in it." She considered for a moment, and then shrugged. "She’s not going to object now, is she? Let me get a cup of tea, and we’ll talk. It’s actually kind of interesting."

She disappeared for a second, and Jake reached for a clean notepadd. All these years, he thought, Ezri would have told me if I asked. He felt a little foolish about it.

Then she came back into view, and somehow in those few seconds she had brushed her silver-streaked hair and freshened up. "Well, she said, "Why don’t I just begin at the beginning? Julian and I were on Cardassia Prime as part of the humanitarian aid team. I don’t remember if you went to Cardassia in the years immediately after the War, but it was heart breaking, Jake. Just heart breaking. The Dominion laid waste to just about everything after Damar broke the alliance. When coriogenic fever broke out, it became a full-scale epidemic and spread to the colonies. Julian and I went with the first team and he worked tirelessly."

Her eyes seemed to focus on the past. "We’d been there almost a year when Miles O’Brien got a message to Julian. He asked Julian to arrange a meeting between Garak and some Starfleet officers who were en route from Deep Space Nine. It was all very mysterious." She smiled. "Julian loved it."

  
***  
_The meeting was to take place in the apartment Julian and Ezri shared on the outskirts of the city. During the final days of the war, it had withstood the vengeance of the Founders and the attacks of the Federation with only the loss of a roof and some cosmetic damage, so it was considered one of the finest buildings left standing. Many of the humanitarian aid team had been housed there._

_Garak arrived on time, wearing a gray cloak with a hood that concealed his face in the dimly lit streets. As Julian let him in, he tossed it back. "I must say, Julian, you captured my interest. I thought our cloak-and-dagger days were behind us."_

_"So did I," Julian said, "but Miles made this sound very important. I suspect it has something to do with the Federation First movement back home."_

_Garak’s mouth curled in contempt as he accepted a glass of water from Ezri. "Ah, yes. The euphemism for isolationism. It worries me, Julian. As a Cardassian, it galls me that we need the help of the Federation to rebuild. But as the Chief Legate, I know that without that help, it will take centuries for us to regain even a little of what we’ve lost. We need the Federation."_

_Julian nodded, but before he could speak the door chime sounded. "Here we go," he said, and opened the door._

_Three people walked in, all appearing travel-weary and none wearing Starfleet uniforms: an older man, a woman with auburn hair, and a dark-skinned man with artificial eyes. It was the latter who stepped forward. "Dr. Bashir? I’m Geordie LaForge. I served on the Enterprise with Miles O’Brien. This is Owen Paris and –"_

_"Kathryn Janeway," Garak said, stepping forward._

_Ezri looked at the woman with renewed interest. The news from Earth was infrequent and sparse on Cardassia, but she had heard of the Captain of Voyager and her court-martial. From the descriptions, Ezri had expected an amazon of a woman, but this person was only slightly taller than Ezri herself, and petite in build. She was looking at Garak with curiosity, touched with concern. "Have we met?"_

_"Briefly. You visited my tailor shop on Deep Space Nine when Voyager was docked there."_

_Recollection showed on her face. "The tailor shop. Yes, I remember. I bought a white suit." Her face relaxed into an easy smile. "It was the only clothing I had in the Delta quadrant other than my uniform for quite a while."_

_At that point, Garak assumed control of the occasion, as if he were the host rather than Julian. Ezri glanced at her lover, and he shrugged. In a way, Garak was their host since he was the Chief Legate of Cardassia; he was certainly the reason these people had come all this way. He introduced Julian and Ezri almost as an afterthought, then added, "I hope you will tell us of some of your adventures, Captain Janeway. The rumors have been fascinating."_

_"I hope we have time, Legate, but we’ve come on a matter of some urgency." Although she was not an empath, Ezri was skilled at interpreting body language. Captain Janeway was tense, and focused on her purpose._

_Garak nodded. "Of course. Then let me say that I am pleased to welcome you to Cardassia, Captain, Admiral Paris. I know that you … enjoyed our hospitality once before. I hope this visit means that you have put the past behind you."_

_The two exchanged a glance, and Ezri could guess its meaning. She had seen such glances among Starfleet officers who had been Cardassian prisoners. That explained a good deal of the tension, she thought._

_Admiral Paris cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. "Yes. The fact is, Legate, we’ve come to ask a favor."_

_"A favor? Forgive me, Admiral, if I find that humorous. If you’d arrived during the day, you would see how little wherewithal Cardassia has to provide favors these days."_

_"You have the records of the Obsidian Order." Janeway spoke bluntly, not even attempting diplomatic tact._

_He looked at her sharply. "Go on."_

_"The Obsidian Order placed a spy in a Maquis cell run by my first officer, Chakotay. Her name was Seska." She looked as if the very name left a vile taste in her mouth. "While we were in the Delta quadrant, she proved to be very thorough and very resourceful. I’m hoping that she was just the same in the Alpha quadrant."_

_"Why?"_

_"Chakotay and the others from his Maquis cell are about to go on trial. The prosecution claims they conducted several raids against Federation targets, which Chakotay denies. Unfortunately, the logs of his ship were destroyed in the Delta quadrant, and Starfleet Intelligence has data from only a brief period of time. Seska was with his cell from the beginning; she may have provided information to her superiors that would corroborate Chakotay’s statement."_

_Garak looked at her with disbelief. "You want to use records of the Obsidian Order to clear a former Maquis terrorist?"_

_"Yes."_

_He laughed, not the cynical chuckle that Ezri was accustomed to hearing from him, but a full and genuine laugh. "What marvelous irony. Captain, I like the way you think. Julian, is that screen linked to the Main Net?"_

_Julian looked a little sheepish; the Federation had agreed that it would not connect its computers to the Cardassian Main Net because of security concerns. "Ahh, as a matter of fact, it is."_

_"I knew I could count on you." Garak went over and began entering commands. "One of the nice things about being Chief Legate is that I have all the codes. It’s much faster than all the back doors I had to use before. Ah. Here we are. Yes, Seska was very thorough." He looked up. "I’m curious. Did she make it back with you? I haven’t seen any mention of her in the reports."_

_"No." She paused, seeming to consider her next words. Then she looked at him with an almost challenging expression. "Seska stole key technology, defected to our first enemy, stole DNA from Chakotay to impregnate herself, subverted a crewmember and assisted in the boarding and capture of my ship. She was killed when we took it back."_

_"Ah. An able representative of the Obsidian Order. Although impregnation isn’t in any of the training manuals." Whether Garak was being sarcastic or not was impossible to say. He swiveled the monitor around. "Here. Would you like to take a look?"_

_Janeway, Paris and LaForge crowded with Julian and Ezri to look at the screen. The index showed more than two dozen files, each a separate report submitted by Seska about the Maquis and particularly about the Liberty. A slow smile spread over Janeway’s face. "May I review these?"_

_"Be my guest." Garak looked up. "While she’s working, Julian, didn’t you say something about dinner? Perhaps Admiral Paris and Commander LaForge can fill us in on events back in the mainstream."_

_Over the rather spare meal, the four of them talked about many things. "I’m surprised that Starfleet Command authorized this visit," Julian commented. "I thought that only medical teams were being allowed."_

_"Ah. Well, you see," LaForge began, then stopped._

_"We have no authorization," Paris said bluntly. "If we’re caught, there will be consequences."_

_"But –" Ezri was shocked. "How did you get past the blockade without authorization?"_

_LaForge shrugged. "It's probably better if you don't know the details."_

_"Even so," Julian continued, "Violation of the Interdiction Order is a crime. If you are caught, it means the end of your careers and maybe time in prison."_

_Admiral Paris looked at him evenly. "Some things are worth the risk, Doctor."_

_"I can understand why Captain Janeway is here," Ezri said, feeling rather stunned. "The Maquis were her crew. But what about the two of you?"_

_After a slight hesitation, Paris responded. "It’s about family. I don’t want my daughter-in-law in prison for something she didn’t do."_

_"Frankly, it wouldn’t matter to me if they were guilty of everything they're charged with," LaForge said. "It’s over. Most of the Maquis are dead. The ones that were on Voyager went through seven years of exile. That’s punishment enough."_

_Garak shook his head and smiled. "I had no idea there were so many independent thinkers in Starfleet. It gives me hope for the future."_

_Julian looked at the Admiral. "If these records are useful to you, how do you plan to get them into evidence? Don’t you need someone to authenticate them?"_

_Paris nodded. "Yes, but we’ll find a way."_

_A gleam of satisfaction suddenly glowed in Garak's eyes. "I may be able to help you there. I’ve been looking for a reason to recall Ambassador Darket. He's not as useful on Earth as I expected him to be. This should do quite nicely. Once he admits he was a supervisor in the Obsidian Order, I’ll have to bring him home, with proper expressions of embarrassment and surprise, of course."_

_Janeway called from the console, "This is better than we hoped for, Owen. Seska provided details on every mission of the Liberty, and every single one of them was against a Cardassian target."_

_“How fortunate." Garak spoke dryly but joined the others as they again crowded around the monitor to look at the records._

_"Man, look at that," LaForge said. "I’m glad she wasn’t keeping tabs on me."_

_"She was very good." Janeway’s face hardened slightly. "Look at this. She even managed to get an image of Chakotay’s coordinator in the Maquis." She scrolled through the file and produced a picture, taken at a distance of about five meters, of a silver-haired man with a dark mustache. "Chakotay told me his name was Prescott. I imagine he’s dead now."_

_"Nope."_

_Everyone turned to look at LaForge in surprise. The man looked bemused. "What do you_  
_mean?" Julian asked._

  
_"I mean, he's not dead and his name isn’t Prescott. He’s on the Timor Colony with the Bajoran settlement there."_  
***

Jake began to laugh. "Thank you, Ezri. Thank you. That’s perfect."

"I’m glad you think so. You realize that I have no idea why."

"It’s one of the missing pieces. The rest of the trial makes sense now."

She smiled at him fondly. "Right. I’ll read the book. Hey – what are you doing in June?"

"I don’t know. What am I doing in June?"

"Coming to my wedding, I hope. Julian is taking a permanent assignment at HQ, and this time we’re really going to do it."

He snorted. "How many times have I heard that? You two have been off and on and off again for fifty years. You’ve cancelled at least three weddings that I know of. Why do you think this time is going to be any different?"

"Because it is. Unless you're making a better offer. It's not too late, you know."

"You have a wedding, I’ll come. Love you, Ezri."

"You, too." She was smiling as the screen went dark.

After that, it took a moment for Jake to get his mind focused on his subject. The meeting Ezri described meshed with Ayala’s recollection that the Captain missed visitor’s day the week before the trial began, and she had proposed something that Chakotay found distasteful. Knowing what he did of Chakotay, using Seska’s records to clear himself would have been hard to accept.

So, Kathryn Janeway had defied Starfleet and secretly traveled to Cardassia to obtain the data that Darket presented at trial – and on the way, found the second surprise witness of the case. He would love to discover how she had accomplished it, but once again he suspected the Enterprise connection. Geordie LaForge was a more than competent pilot; he had connections to Miles O'Brien, who had connections at Deep Space Nine, the last Federation post before Cardassia… somehow, Janeway had been able to take advantage of all that. She had returned in time for the opening statements, and spent the entire trial sitting in the front row of the spectator seats, directly behind Chakotay.

After Darket, Ntomo called Chakotay to testify. On direct examination, he acknowledged being a member of the Maquis and explained his reasons for joining. As he described the utter destruction of his planet, family and tribe, even Elk had to lower his head to conceal his reaction.

  
***  
_Mr. Ntomo : While with the Maquis, did you ever lead, conduct or participate in a raid, attack or maneuver against a Federation or Starfleet target?_

 _Chakotay : No. I had an understanding with my cell’s coordinator – I would take only assignments against Cardassian targets. I wanted revenge against the Cardassians, and I still had too many friends in Starfleet._  
***

As Jake recalled, Elk did not directly attack this testimony, but he did elicit an admission that Chakotay harbored bitterness against the Federation for the Treaty of 2370 and some bitterness for the treatment of Voyager’s crew upon their return to the Alpha quadrant.

The court recessed for the day after Chakotay’s testimony, as it was expected the defense would rest its case and closing arguments begin in the morning. Jake returned to the recording of the trial beginning the next day. Watching the faces of the everyone in the room, though, it was immediately evident to Jake that something had happened. The judge and the attorneys were in chambers for almost half an hour beyond the time set for resuming the trial, and when they returned, Elk looked as if he had just swallowed a Tarkellian eel and it was still moving in his stomach.  
  
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury," Judge Hue said, "last night I was contacted by an individual who stated he had information that was vital to the cause of justice in this case. Mr. Elk, Mr. Ntomo and I met with him in my chambers and determined that he is indeed who he claims to be and he does have relevant testimony to offer. Ordinarily, a surprise witness would not be permitted at this stage of the trial, but in the interest of justice I am allowing it. He is appearing as a witness for the defense. Mr. Ntomo, please proceed."

Ntomo rose, looking as if he couldn’t believe what he was about to say. "The defense calls Montgomery Scott to the stand."

Many of the civilians in the room looked puzzled, but those in Starfleet uniforms clearly recognized the name. From the last row of the gallery, a man seated between Admiral Owen Paris and Lt. Commander Geordie LaForge rose. He wore the comfortable clothing of a Bajoran villager, but he was clearly human. His white hair and portly figure attested to his age, but his eyes were sharp and clear as he took the stand. As he settled himself, he caught the eye of a stunned Chakotay, and winked at him.

"Would you tell us your name, sir?" Ntomo asked.

"My name is Montgomery Scott, but there are many who also know me by the name of Prescott."

"And your age?"

"Ah, laddie, that’s a bit complicated. You see, I was born in 2222, but I was trapped in a transporter buffer for 75 years. So if you look at the calendar, I’m 158, but physiologically I’m only 82."

"Did you ever serve in Starfleet, sir?"

"For more than fifty years. My last assignment was as an instructor at Starfleet Academy, but I spent most of my career as the chief engineer of the USS Enterprise and USS Enterprise-A."

"Would you explain the part about the transporter buffer?"

"Certainly. I retired from Starfleet in 2294 and was in the process of relocating to the Norpin colony when our ship crashed into a Dyson sphere. I processed myself into the transporter buffer, thinking that help would arrive within a few days. Instead, it was 75 years before the USS Enterprise-D found me."

"Where did you go when you left the Enterprise-D?"

He settled back, folding his hands on his belly. "I went exploring. The quadrant had changed a lot in 75 years. Eventually I wound up on Materan."

"The Bajoran Resettlement Colony?"

"That’s right. The only equipment they had was as old as me, and they were desperate for anyone who could maintain it – a handyman, if you will. They took me in, and I became part of the family, so to speak."

"Materan was one of the worlds ceded back to the Cardassians in the Treaty of 2370, is that correct."

"Aye, and shamefully so. Bajor wasn’t prepared to receive all of its expatriates back in one fell swoop, but we were given the choice of remaining on Materan and accepting Cardassian rule or returning to Bajor and living hand to mouth for years." His face saddened at the memory. "We went to Bajor, even though the refugee camps were even worse than the resettlement colony."

"Can you tell us when, and why, you changed your name?"

"I was one of the group that started the Maquis, laddie. It seemed to best to use a name less likely to be recognized."

This time, the silence in the court was so absolute that the buzzing of a single fly could be heard.

Ntomo's voice rumbled through the silence like an earthquake. "You were a founder of the Maquis? You, with your long, even legendary record of service?"

Scott grinned at him, looking like a fond grandfather with a small child. "Look again at that record. I spent most of my career under the command of James T. Kirk, still the finest captain ever to wear the uniform if you ask me. There’s one thing I learned from him – given the choice of doing the easy thing, or what you’ve been told, or doing what is right, always do what is right. It’s the only way to face yourself at the end of the day."

Ntomo nodded. "And what was your role with the Maquis?"

"Planetbound, I’m sorry to say. Look at me, I’m too old and too fat to be a freedom fighter. I was a control, laddie. Six cell leaders took their assignments from me. Chakotay there was one of them."

He smiled then, and Chakotay finally relaxed enough to return the expression. He looked a little rueful, as if he still couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

"Did you ever give Chakotay an assignment that would have required an attack upon a Federation or Starfleet target?"

He shook his head. "No. We had a talk up front, he and I. He told me that he had resigned from Starfleet but he still had too many friends there to go up against them. ‘Give me Cardassian targets,’ he said, and so I did. I understood his reasons."

"Do you have a record of the assignments given to Chakotay’s cell?"

"I do." He reached into a pocket and pulled out a datachip. "It’s old technology – all that we had in the refugee camps, but you should be able to convert it. You’ll find it all there."

"Thank you, Mr. Scott. The defense would like to enter this as Exhibit 8. Tell me, sir, what brings you forward now? You are risking prosecution yourself by doing so."

"True enough. I should have come forward years ago, when the others were sent to prison, but I told myself I was an old man, and entitled to die in peace. I left Bajor for the Timor colony after the Maquis were massacred, and we don’t get much news there. I only learned of this trial last week, and came here as quickly as I could. You see, I’d almost forgotten the other part of what I learned from Kirk. Do what you believe is right, then stand up and admit it and take what comes. If Chakotay and the others are to be punished, I should be right there with them." He smiled serenely, plainly content with his decision.

"Thank you, Mr. Scott. I have no further questions."

"Mr. Elk?"

  
Elk gave Scott a long, considering look, then shook his head. "No. No questions, your honor."

Excerpt from the first draft of "Heroic Hearts: A Biography of Kathryn Janeway " by Jake Sisko:

  
The jury deliberated for two days, then returned with its verdict. When Judge Hue instructed the defendants to rise, not only did the twenty-eight defendants stand, but so did every member of the crew of Voyager in the gallery. Hue scowled at them all as they stood at formal attention, then shrugged. There may have been a gleam of respect in the judge’s eyes for the message conveyed so effectively. Kathryn Janeway and her crew stood together, even now.

  
The room remained silent as the foreman responded "not guilty" to each of the charges against each of the defendants, but with each utterance the tension in the room seemed to increase. Chakotay visibly stiffened, and the expression on his face indicated that he did not quite believe his ears. Colley Elk stood motionless, his face paling to white, with a blotch of pink on each cheek.

  
When the long recitation was finished at last, the jury foreman relaxed into a grin, and Judge Hue actually smiled back. "Thank you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, for the thoughtful discharge of your duties. The defendants are free to go. This court is adjourned."

  
And then someone in the courtroom – perhaps Harry Kim, perhaps Joe Carey – let out a whoop, and then the pandemonium began. The defendants hugged one another, the spectators hugged one another. Tom Paris, newly released from New Zealand, first hugged his father, then vaulted over the gate and grabbed his wife.

  
Chakotay shook Ntomo’s hand, clasping his arm. Then he was surrounded by well-wishers – crew, strangers, even members of the jury. Finally, he found himself shaking the hand of Montgomery Scott. "Well, lad," the older man said, "it’s good to see you."

"Thank you," Chakotay replied, feeling that the words were inadequate. "For all of us – thank you."

  
"I should hae done it long ago. After this, I doubt they’ll be coming after an old man like me." Scott cocked his head. "It’s early days yet, but do you know what you’ll be doing now that's it's over? There’s a place for you on Timor if you like."  
Before Chakotay could answer, he was pulled away from Scott into the enthusiastic embrace of B’Elanna Torres, and from there swept on to others.

  
Eventually the courtroom began to empty, people leaving in twos and threes and larger groups. Finally, Chakotay found himself seemingly alone, and the quiet was a relief. He sat down heavily in a chair and closed his eyes, unaware that anyone else remained in the room. Perhaps he was offering a prayer of gratitude, perhaps he was simply trying to come to terms with the fact that he was finished with a significant chapter in his life. Perhaps the emotions he had kept under control in the months since Voyager’s return were finally breaking free.

  
A hand on his shoulder caused him to look up into the questioning eyes of Kathryn Janeway. He gazed at her for a moment, then with a movement so swift it was startling, pulled her closer and buried his face against her chest. She said nothing, but stroked his head gently.

Finally he looked up. "Where do we go from here?"

  
"Well," she said softly, "I thought Indiana might do for the short term." With a smile, she stepped back and offered him her hand. Taking it, he rose and they left the courtroom together, hands tightly clasped.

  
\--To Be Continued--


	6. A Frolic Welcome

March 31, 2430

  
After the trials, Starfleet belated decided it was time to celebrate Voyager's return and through the biggest party it had thrown in years. Ah, that party. He hadn't thought about the party for years. Despite the late hour, Jake poured through his padds until he found the one he wanted, the one he had recorded fifty years ago that very night - his own notes from the night Starfleet and the Federation finally welcomed Voyager home. In some ways, these were the notes that started him on his obsession with Kathryn Janeway.

Dictated Notes of Jake Sisko, dated March 31, 2380

  
Man, what a party. It's like Starfleet hoped that if they threw a bash that was big enough and important enough, no one would notice that it was really, really late. Voyager made it home six months ago but that little fact, and all the legal wranglings that have gone on since, are best forgotten tonight. Tonight, at last, is about celebrating the fact that the Lost are Found once more, thanks to a combination of raw courage, blind determination, and dumb luck.

(I heard a Voyager crewman say that tonight – I think her name was Gilmore. It sounds good. Have to use it if I ever go further with this idea.)

Everybody who is anybody in the Federation was there last night. Even President Jaresh-Inyo and his wives came, and they are notorious for avoiding social functions. The last time anything on this scale happened was the celebration of the end of the War. Mala Nwasi got the assignment from FNS – she gets all the glitz and glitter work – so I almost didn't make it. Fortunately, the Bajorans still regard me as the son of the Emissary, so Ambassador Poremb included me in his party when I asked. Dad, if you can hear this, thanks.

It was weird being a guest, not a reporter. I couldn't turn off my "ear." (Okay, I was studying everybody. You didn't have to be an empath to sense a lot of different emotions in the room.)

Necheyev and Jellico came together. (Note -- They've been seen together a lot lately – anything to it? Find out.) I swear, Necheyev hired someone to paint that smile on her face – I've never seen anyone so damned determined to look happy. One of the funniest things I've ever seen was when Chakotay came over to shake her hand – Mala was about a meter away, so the Admiral had to be gracious, but she was as stiff as if she were shaking hands with a cobra.

The Firsters are wounded but not dead. They're probably going to lick their wounds for a while then strike again. The fight isn't over.

Annika Hansen – Seven of Nine – whatever she calls herself – arrived with Zimmerman, Barclay, and the Voyager EMH. In the immortal words of Julian Bashir, wow. Wow. The woman wore a dress that covered her from neck to ankle and was still the sexiest thing in the room. The Borg should have used her as a recruiting poster – millions of men would have volunteered for assimilation. But I don't think she's got a clue about the effect she has on anyone afflicted with testosterone. She seemed uncomfortable with the attention she was generating and was quick to take the arm of the EMH.

One of the reporters from FNS rushed up without even making eye contact first. "Ms. Hansen, I'm Mala Nwasi from FNS. Can you share your thoughts on tonight's events?"

The taller woman looked slightly irritated at the interruption, but answered with dignity. "In my opinion, this celebration is overdue. Captain Janeway and the crew should have been recognized for their achievements as soon as they returned to the Alpha quadrant."

"Why did you apply for Vulcan citizenship when your parents were citizens of Earth, albeit through colonial ties?"

"I fail to see why that is relevant."

Mala used a smile I know she thinks is charming. It isn’t. "Please, Ms. Hansen, the public wants to know."

Annika Hansen – Seven of Nine – looked uncertainly at her companion, the EMH with the unprecedented mobility. He leaned into the microphone. "Seven feels more comfortable in an atmosphere of logic and emotional discipline."

"But surely, as a human being, you must find the Vulcan approach to life restrictive." Mala completely ignored the hologram.

Annika Hansen took note and straightened. "I find that Vulcans generally are far more cognizant of their surroundings and courteous to strangers."

But the EMH did not need a champion. "We felt that Seven had a better chance of avoiding vivisection if she were a citizen of Vulcan."

Mala's eyes widened. "Ah, ah, yes, well… you… you're a sentient hologram, aren't you?"

"Correct." The Doctor's eyes gleamed.

"But I understand that Starfleet has declared you to be the property of Dr. Lewis Zimmerman."

Zimmerman, who had been standing aside, stepped forward and clapped a hand on the shoulder of the hologram. "That is an interim step until we can establish sentience. The Doctor is as deserving of recognition of intelligent life as you are." He stopped, and ran his eyes up and down Mala, then added, "maybe more."

At that, Mala beat a hasty retreat. She is great with a debate on hem lengths, but she was out of her league with that group.

Captain Janeway arrived with a large group that included her mother, Admiral Patterson, her sister and brother-in-law, her former fiancée and his wife, Commander Chakotay, and Commander Tuvok with his wife, three sons, two daughters-in-law and daughter. Starfleet had finally approved all of Janeway's field commissions, promotions and commendations and most of the former Maquis had chosen to remain in the service, at least for a while. Few of them had any home left to go back to, and Starfleet at least provided a haven while they re-acclimated themselves to the post-War Alpha quadrant.

I began to notice something odd. All the men were coming in dress uniform, the stark white that had been adopted a few years ago. Most of the women, including Janeway, were in formal evening gowns. The result was terrific – a lot of really gorgeous women in dresses that flattered them and added some color to the evening. I thought Captain Janeway looked especially good. I hadn't seen her since the end of the Maquis trial, and she looked rested, even younger. The deep blue dress fit her like a column of smoke and turned more than a few eyes. I had not seen her laugh before, and she did a lot of that last night. It made her sparkle.

The Paris contingent was even bigger. Admiral Paris and his wife, Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres, three Paris daughters and their husbands, Torres' mother (on the arm of Lt. Commander Worf, who was sent as the personal representative of Chancellor Martok), Lt. Kim and his parents and a petite, pretty Bajoran woman that I was pretty certain was from the Voyager crew but couldn't place immediately.

B'Elanna Torres stopped a few conversations herself. She wore a black dress with tiny little straps and deep slit on one side. Stunning. (If all the women on Voyager looked like the Captain, Torres and Seven of Nine, I don't know how the men ever got any work done. It must have been fantasy central.) Admiral Paris couldn't wait to show her off; he dragged her away from conversations with others at least three times that I saw. The fourth time, I was standing near enough to listen.

"Come with me, B'Elanna, I want to introduce you to Ambassador Gorlo." Admiral Paris didn't wait for his daughter-in-law to answer, but linked his arm with hers and led her across the floor.

"I can't believe how much he's changed," Tom Paris said, watching them.

"Yes, he has changed. The War did that." His mother took his arm but continued to look at her husband. "You know how he supported the Treaty of 2370. He honestly thought it was for the best. When the Cardassians allied with the Dominion, he was devastated."

"For pete's sake, Mom, anyone could see that coming. I never understood how Dad, of all people, could trust the Cardassians. Not after what they put him through."

"It was because of what he went through that he wanted the Treaty to work so badly. He wanted to spare you – to spare all of your generation – the war that would come if there was no Treaty."

Tom shook his head. "Some things you can't avoid, Mom. You just have to live through them as best you can."

Cinda Paris looked at him with an expression that almost glowed. "I know. So does your father. He has changed, Tom." Then she grinned. "He's changed, but not completely. He's still opinionated, stubborn and defensive when challenged. But he is so proud of you, Tom. When the first reports were received from Voyager, and we learned of everything you had done, I thought he was going to burst with pride."

Suddenly Tom Paris looked shy, almost embarrassed. "Well. He seems to have taken a shine to B'Elanna."

"And to his grandson. Tom, he loves you. And he loves little Harry, and I think he's well on his way to loving that remarkable woman you married. But don't kid yourself. Eventually the old problems are going to resurface."

"You mean, he doesn't realize that I've changed."

Cinda smiled. "You've changed, but not completely. You're still opinionated, stubborn and defensive when challenged."

He looked at her with surprise, but bit back his first impulsive words. Finally he smiled. "Sounds familiar."

"Oh, Tom." Cinda hugged him. "You are so much his son – and very much your own man. You don't have to try to fit into his vision for you any more. When the two of you argue – and you know you will – do me a favor and remember that."

I did a lot of eavesdropping last night. Couldn't seem to help myself. The table behind me, the group standing beside me, the people in front of me for the line at the bar…it really was shameless of me. But it was fascinating.

The senior staff of the Enterprise was there, although I have no idea why. I know Picard was on Janeway's jury and Troi worked on Project Pathfinder, but that hardly seems to justify pulling the Enterprise back to Earth from the Romulan border. Montgomery Scott arrived with them, which surprised me, since I thought he'd gone back to Timor colony after the Maquis trial. They walked up to Tuvok and his wife.

"Neelix and I, we're going to open a pub right here in San Francisco."

Lt. Commander Tuvok raised an eyebrow. "A pub?"

"That's right." Neelix was beaming. "A real Aberdeen waterfront type of pub. Scotty's going to tend bar, and I'll handle the kitchen and the business end."

"I thought you were happy on Timor," Geordie Laforge said.

"Ah, so I was, laddie, so I was. But I'm getting too old to be a handyman, and besides, I've a yen to spend my golden years here on Earth now that I'm not a fugitive from justice anymore."

"Golden years," LaForge scoffed. "You'll outlive us all."

"Have you actually sampled Mr. Neelix's cooking?" Tuvok asked.

"Yes, he has," Neelix answered quickly. "We could use a pastry chef, though. You should taste Tuvok's desserts, Scotty. He's a genius."

Tuvok straightened slightly. "Tempting as the offer is, I must decline. I will be returning to Vulcan tomorrow. Starfleet granted my request for an assignment near my family."

"Too bad," Scotty said, draining the contents of his glass. "I love a good dessert."

The other really big surprise came when I got in the line for the bar. Captain Picard and Commander Chakotay were directly in front of me. Neither of them noticed me, so I did my best to seem to be utterly disinterested in everything going on around me. It's something I learned to do during the occupation of DS9 and have gotten better at since.

"It’s good to see you in uniform again, Commander. It suits you."

"Thank you, Captain. Coming from you, I take that as high praise."

Picard glanced about, apparently making certain that no untrustworthy ears were pointed their direction. Either he didn’t see Me, or didn’t count me as untrustworthy. "I know that you turned down an amnesty for your people to go on trial, and I want to thank you. That must have been hard for you, but the trial exposed the true nature of the Federation First movement. It was an important victory."

Chakotay looked at him with a bemused expression. "You make it sound like a war."

"In a way it is – the timeless war against repression in any form. I’m glad to see you back in uniform because we need people of your caliber with us to keep up the fight." He smiled. "What are your plans for the future?"

"We’ll be at the Academy for at least a year, as faculty and as students – we’ve got a lot of catching up to do. After that…" he shrugged. "It depends."

Picard nodded. "Yes, I heard that most of your senior staff would be at the Academy for a while, although I understand that Commander Tuvok is returning to Vulcan."

"Yes, he wants to be closer to his family."

"Who can blame him? Although I confess, I was hoping to persuade him to take a post on the Enterprise. I need a good Security officer."

Then the line moved again, and they suddenly they were at the bar and able to order drinks. Picard requested a glass of red wine and a glass of champagne, then Chakotay placed the identical order. "Champagne for the ladies?" Picard asked.

"My Captain believes that celebrations require champagne."

"A woman of discriminating taste." He lowered his voice again. "Commander, between the two of us, the Enterprise is going to need a first officer soon. Would you be interested?"

Jake had to control himself to avoid betraying his interest in the conversation. The Enterprise in need of a first officer? Was Riker finally taking a command of his own, or was Picard moving up to the Admiralty?

Chakotay did not seem to share his curiosity, and he was visibly careful with his phrasing. "I’m flattered, Captain, but there are a number of issues I need to work out before I can answer that."

Picard nodded. "I understand," he said as he accepted two glasses from the bartender. "Keep it in mind, though. If things don’t work out as you hope."

After cocktails, there was a formal dinner followed by a lot of speeches from admirals and dignitaries, most of whom had the good sense to be brief. Then came the inevitable round of toasting, most of it predictable. The entire crew of Voyager was apparently the "guest" of honor, because very few of the toasts focused on a single individual. I wonder if Janeway requested this. She seemed sufficiently embarrassed by the attention given to her crew, and acutely uncomfortable when any praise was sent in her direction.

There are two that I remember vividly this morning. The first was by Admiral Paris.

" _Ex astris, scientia._ It has been the motto of Starfleet since its earliest days. Our primary aim has been to find knowledge in the stars, from the farthest reaches of our galaxy. Voyager has brought us more knowledge than any of us ever dreamed – not just the dimensions of a hitherto unknown quadrant, or the composition of a natural particle fountain, or even just the characteristics of new cultures and societies. Voyager has brought us a new knowledge of ourselves - a realization that despite our differences, despite our histories, despite our weaknesses and vulnerabilities, we are stronger together. We can learn from each other and in the learning, become better than we were. Voyager has brought us the knowledge that there is hope for a future of peace. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the crew of the USS Voyager and her captain."

The other one I remember for a different reason. Rear Admiral Edward Jellico, author of the Treaty of 2370, avowed Firster, suspected agent of Section 31, rose coolly. Jellico had indeed been the only member of the court-martial panel who voted to convict Janeway, and his feelings were unmistakable as he gazed first at Chakotay, then at Janeway.

"The Federation provides our best hope for a society built on the principles of freedom, order and peace. Let us renew our dedication to its safety by pledging vigilance over its foundation and unrelenting enmity to those who would threaten it. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the United Federation of Planets."

No one missed the veiled threat in his words.

After dinner, there was dancing. Lots of dancing. I managed a few numbers myself – although not with a Voyager crewmember. The CMO from the Enterprise is a fantastic dancer. Should try her again if the opportunity arises.

Sometime after midnight, I went out to one of the balconies that border the ballroom of the Robert April Memorial Center. Force fields keep it temperature-controlled, so that even though it was still a little raw outside, on the inside we had the illusion of a lovely spring night. Potted plants lined the walls, some of them taller than me; I think were brought in just for this occasion. I really didn't intend what happened next, but it happened before I could do anything about it. Maybe my reflexes were dulled by the amount of wine I had consumed during the evening – all of it real, nothing syntheholic served at this party unless specifically requested.

I was at the back of the balcony, studying one of the plants – it looked like a Bajoran fichus, but I didn't think it could be – when a woman came outside to join me. She walked straight to the railing and looked out at San Francisco Bay without noticing me. It took about two seconds for me to realize that it was Captain Janeway who was studying the reflection of the moon on the water with such intensity. My first reaction was to pounce; she had declined every request I made for an interview, and I wanted to show her I was not her enemy. But something about the way she stood made me hesitate; her stance reminded me of Dad, when he had something he wanted to think through. Before I could make up my mind whether or not to disturb her, a man came out from the ballroom, and I stepped back into the shadows. It wasn't that I wanted to listen so much as I didn't know how to get away gracefully.

"Want some company?"

She smiled at the familiar voice. "You? Always." She held out a hand, and he took it, standing beside her. "It’s finally over, Mark. We’re truly home, at last."

"How does it feel?"

"Honestly? Like I fell through a time machine. So much has changed. I thought I was prepared for it, but every day something new crops up to remind me that time didn’t stand still while we were gone. You know what happened just now?"

"What?"

"Admiral Korso’s wife spent ten minutes raving about Robinson’s Ragout, and I thought she was talking about a restaurant." She shook her head. "Apparently it’s the novel that won the Pulitzer Prize last year."

He smiled. "An understandable mistake. And I’m willing to bet that even if you had been in the Alpha quadrant the past seven years, you still wouldn’t have known that. It wasn’t your kind of book." His smile faded. "Kath – if I ask you something, will you answer honestly?"

"What?"

"Was I right to tell you about my marriage? I’ve been afraid I hurt you unnecessarily."

She looked back out at the bay. "By the time I got your letter, I was hoping that you had moved on. Still, I have to admit, it threw me. I guess there was a part of me that thought you’d always be waiting for me. When I got over that, I was happy for you, and frankly, it was one less thing for me to feel guilty about." She smiled. "And I do like her. You’re good together."

"We are. You know, if you had stayed in the Alpha quadrant and we got married, we would have been comfortable and content and we might never have realized that there could be anything more than that. But you know that now, don’t you?"

She caught her breath. "Yes. Yes, I do."

"I like him. You’re good together."

"Don’t jump to conclusions."

"What’s the problem? Now that you’re home, everything should work out for you."

A sigh escaped her. "It’s not that simple. I’m not ready for a long-term ground assignment yet. In the last few weeks, I’ve realized how much I miss being out there –" her hands swept across the sky – "exploring. But as long as we’re both in Starfleet, they won’t let us serve on the same ship if we're in a relationship. We could take different assignments and see each other once a year on leave. That’s not enough. I want more of him than that. He’s part of me, maybe the best part."

"Then you’ll find a way. You always do."

She leaned her head against his shoulder. "I love you, Mark. You know that."

"Yes. And I love you. All I want is for you to be as happy as I am."

They stood in silence for a moment, looking out at the moonlit water. Then Mark straightened. "I should get back. Want to come with me?"

"In a few minutes. It’s a little warm in there." She turned back to the view, and did not see that as Mark Johnson left the balcony, Chakotay walked past him. The two men exchanged a look of silent understanding.

Chakotay moved quietly to stand beside her. "Are you all right?"

"Yes. We were talking about the future," she said, taking his hand in hers.

"I’ve had a few of those discussions tonight myself. Did you reach any conclusions?"

"Only one." She slipped both arms around his waist and held him lightly, not standing too close.

"Funny, me, too." He closed his arms around her in the same way and smiled at her.

"Tell me."

"You first."

Her smile faded suddenly, and her expression became serious. "All right. Wherever we go from here, we go together."

"That’s convenient, because it is exactly the conclusion I reached."

"It won’t be easy."

"It never has been." His head bent to kiss her, but he jerked up at the sound of a nearby voice.

"Hey, here they are!" Tom Paris stepped outside, apparently oblivious to the fact that his commanding officers were standing with their arms around each other. "You two have to come back inside. Harry is about to propose to Celes out on the dance floor. You don’t want to miss it."

He ducked back inside. With arms around each other’s waist, Kathryn Janeway and Chakotay followed him.

The whole time they were talking, I was busy wishing I could melt into the tiled floor of the balcony. Eavesdropping was one thing, but this was intruding on a very personal moment and I felt like a voyeur. At the same time, I couldn’t help wondering at this turn of events. Things seemed to have moved pretty quickly for them since the trial.

I've never actually been in love. I thought I was, a couple of times, but it always turned out to be a passing fancy, an infatuation. Someday, I hope that a woman looks at me the way Janeway looked at Chakotay, and that I look back at her the way he did. I hope that someone makes me light up just by coming up behind me. I hope someone matters that much to me and I to them.

I better go to bed. I’m getting sentimental and that's a sign I've been up too long. I just wanted to get this down while it was still fresh.

March 31, 2430

  
Jake poured a little more merlot into the glass in front of him. That night was why he known that Green was wrong, why he had always known that Janeway was more than the official portrait issued by Starfleet. With a half smile, he raised the glass. "To love," he said, just as he had toasted Tom Paris. In the end, it was perhaps the only sentiment that mattered.

-To Be Continued -


	7. Beyond All the Western Stars

Indiana was flat. To the best of his knowledge, this was the first time Jake Sisko had ever been in Indiana, and his first and overwhelming impression was that it was flat. From the porch of the Janeway farm, he could look south over fields of corn and beans that seemed to stretch to the horizon. The view to the east, though, included some towering oaks and maple trees with lush, emerald leaves. The morning air was already heavy with humidity; the weather forecast was for rain, and the thickening gray skies seemed to promise it would come soon. As he sat on the rail and studied his surroundings, he wondered how long he would have to wait.

The answer was in front of him almost as soon as the question formed in his mind. The front door opened, and a woman came out. Her Starfleet uniform was crisp and immaculate, and sported four pips. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Sisko," she said with a cordial smile. "I’m Kathryn Paris."

Startled, he almost spilled his coffee as he rose. "No apologies necessary, Captain. Mrs. Harris told me you had been delayed."

"Would you mind if I got myself a cup of coffee before we talk? I’ll just be a minute." With a smile, she disappeared back inside the house.

Jake leaned back against the railing and wondered again why she had asked to meet with him. The youngest child of Tom Paris and B’Elanna Torres had contacted him last week, saying that she was going to be on Earth briefly and would like to talk with him about his book. Obviously, her father had told her about his meeting with Jake six months earlier. He hoped she was not going to try to talk him into concealing what he had learned.

She reappeared with a large mug in hand and an appreciative expression on her face. "Mrs. Harris makes the best coffee in the alpha quadrant. Come, let’s sit down." She indicated to large wooden chairs on the porch with a view of the trees.

He studied her closely, looking for signs of her parents in her. Although he knew that she was just over forty years old, she looked younger. Her long dark hair was pulled back and clipped almost exactly as Jadzia Dax had worn hers decades ago, although she was closer to Ezri Dax in size and build. Unlike her brothers, Kathryn Paris showed no traces of Klingon heritage in her bone structure. Deep brown eyes looked back at him with patience and, perhaps, amusement.

"You have your mother’s eyes," he said at last, remembering the thousands of images of B’Elanna Torres he had studied over the years.

She smiled. "Most people think so. You are probably wondering why I asked to speak with you, Mr. Sisko."

"I’m guessing it has to do with my book about Captain Janeway and Voyager."

"Yes. My father told me about your interview with him, and I’ve spoken to Reg Barclay as well." She blew on her coffee before sipping it. "You’re going to reveal a lot of long-kept secrets, Mr. Sisko."

"And you would prefer that I don’t?"

She laughed. "I admit, that was my first thought. Secrets can be very comforting sometimes, and we get used to carrying them around."

"You have secrets, Captain?"

"Don’t we all, Jake? I'm going to call you Jake because we’re about to become good friends. Call me Katie." She smiled broadly, revealing a matched set of dimples. "I wasn’t pleased about your book at first, but Dad and I had a long talk about it. If you insist on telling this story, you really ought to tell all of it – and you don’t know the end of it yet."

He looked at her, surprised. "After the trials, everything is more or less public record. Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay taught at the Academy for two years, then took a five-year mission to the Gamma quadrant on the USS Slayton. When they came back, they went to work on Project Magellan, and shipped out on the Voyager-A in 2400. They never married, but they were never separated from one another, either. Starfleet just stopped asking about their relationship and let them stay together as a command team."

"All of it true, as far as it goes." She rose and walked to the edge of the porch. There was a surprising tenseness about her. "On second thought, this story might be easier to tell on the move. Mind walking with me?"

He followed her down the steps and onto a well-worn path that led back into the trees. Captain Paris spoke as they walked. "She left this place to me. The Harrises take care of it for me. I ought to just sell it to them, but I can’t seem to find the heart to give it up. Phoebe’s kids don’t want it, and at least this way it stays in the family."

"She was very close to your parents."

"Oh, yes. She and Chakotay both. I never met them face to face, you know. I was born about six months after Voyager-A shipped out. But Captain Janeway wrote to me. My mother saved the letters until I was old enough to understand." She paused under a maple tree, reached up with one hand and touched a low-hanging branch. "I’ve never shared those letters with anyone, Jake, not even Dad. He’s got a pretty good idea of what’s in them, but he’s never read them. Mom… I had to talk about some of it with Mom, but I never let her read them, either. Up until now, they’ve been mine alone."

"Look, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. If you would rather not –" 

"No, it’s time. Voyager's journey was remarkable, but you know that already, don't you? My parents often told us that those years in the Delta quadrant were the most important of their lives. I think that was true for the entire crew, one way or another. "

"Yes, I agree. Even though it seemed to be a tragedy initially."

"A tragedy. Yeah. And it turned out to be an epic adventure, and I use the word 'epic' advisedly. It's a story with everything, Jake, including romance."

***  
_Dear Katie,_

  
_Today I want to tell you about Chakotay. The funny thing is, I don’t know exactly how to begin. I could tell you what he looks like, but by now you know that. I could tell you about the things you can’t see in the vids, about his inner strength and his humor and above all, his patience, but I don’t have the right words and it would come out sounding like so much mush. Maybe what I really want to tell you about is Chakotay and me, together._

_Once, when we were first back from the Delta quadrant, a reporter asked B’Elanna whether she thought her marriage to Tom would survive away from Voyager. Instead of ripping his face off – which I considered a genuine possibility – she simply said, "Of course." That’s how it has been with Chakotay and me, almost from the moment we met. Something inside me said, "Of course."_

_Not that we managed it well at first. There were so many things against us…starting with the fact that we were supposed to be enemies. And I was engaged to a dear man back home. The circumstances required that I make him my first officer. Any of one of those factors should have provided sufficient moral and ethical reasons to back off, to pretend that we didn’t feel what we felt. We tried. We did try. But eventually we realized that whatever it was between us – and it took us a long time to use the "l" word – was inevitable, and we stopped fighting it._

_Once we stopped, I wondered why we had ever tried. Love is a powerful thing, Katie. Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise. Chakotay’s love gave me the strength to get through those years in the Delta quadrant, to do what needed to be done._

_We kept our relationship to ourselves while we were in the Delta quadrant. The first time, it was so unexpectedly precious that we didn’t want to share it with anyone. The second time we decided that we wouldn’t go public until we were certain we had worked out the problems inherent in mixing the command and personal relationships. We got home before we ever felt comfortable enough to tell the crew. He and I knew the truth, and that was enough._

_As it turned out, our discretion served us well. By the time you read this, you will know about the trials that took place when we returned. There were those who tried to turn our relationship into something shameful. They will tell you that I sat in the witness box and denied our relationship. And I admit to you, I misled them – not out of shame or fear, but because it was the only way defeat the people who were using me as a pawn in their power play. He understood and agreed with me, and that was all that mattered to me._

_They will tell you we never married. And it is true that we never filed a certificate of marriage with any legal authority. We didn’t because if we had, we would not have been permitted to serve together in the same command structure. It is a breach of protocol for a captain to take a lover among the command team, but it is a breach of regulations when that lover becomes a legal spouse. That does not mean that our union was not a sacred commitment._

_When the trials were finally over, and the celebrations concluded and the family reunions complete, Chakotay and I went to his homeworld. It had been nearly ten years since the Cardassians destroyed it, but the devastation was still evident. What had once been a jungle world was a barren, rocky planet that nature was only beginning to reclaim. All that remained of the colony were lumps of melted stone and metal that were covered with moss and lichen. I am not a fanciful person, Katie, but the air was heavy with spirits of the dead. They pressed around us, neither threatening nor welcoming, simply watching._

_We walked, holding hands, until he stopped suddenly and looked around. There was a look of uncertainty on his face. "What is it?" I asked._

_He didn’t answer me immediately. "I think…" Then he knelt by one of the lumps of stone and began brushing away the lichen. "I marked it when I was here last time, so I could find it again."_

_I knelt beside him and watched. In a moment, the bare stone was visible. There was no mark on it. He moved to another lump and wiped away the moss, then moved on to the next. The stone was cutting the palms of his hand, but he did not notice. When the fourth stone was revealed to be as bare as the others, I stopped him from moving again. "What is it? What are you looking for?"_

_"My father’s house." There were tears glittering in his eyes. "I can’t find it, Kathryn. I can’t find the house I grew up in."_

_There was so much pain in his voice. He hardly ever let anyone see that pain, even me, and hearing it, seeing it in his eyes, undid me. I took him in my arms as we knelt on the ground but instead of giving him comfort, I found myself weeping. The waste of it all, the terrible terrible waste, weighed down on me and I wept for Chakotay, and for his family and his people, and for all the Maquis who died because of an ill-conceived treaty with a dishonorable enemy._

_"Shh," he said to me, "shh. Don’t cry, love. Don’t cry for me."_

_"You’ve lost your home," I mumbled. I wanted to say more, but that was the easiest thing to articulate._

_He raised my head so that I could see his eyes. The pain in them was almost gone. He wiped the tears off my face. "No, I haven’t. You are my home, Kathryn."_

_We made love there, in the dust and the moss while the spirits of the dead looked on, and it was a sacrament._

_It may not sound like much of a wedding, Katie, but the vows we made to each other that afternoon were as binding as anything we could have said in a courthouse or chapel. We knew the truth of it, and that was enough. For us, that was always enough._  
***

Katie Paris leaned against the trunk of an ancient oak tree and looked at Jake. "Not exactly the stuff of fairy tales, but it feels right, somehow."

Jake found himself agreeing. Still, he looked the younger woman with curiosity. It seemed out of character for Kathryn Janeway, an intensely private individual, to write such an intimate letter to a girl she never even met. Wondering how to broach that question without seeming rude, he said only, "You were named for her."

She grinned and folded her arms across her chest. "Have you looked at the children of the Voyager crew? Most of the girls have some form of Kathryn in their name. It gets very confusing at the reunions." Then she shook her head. "My son Mark is in his first year at the Academy. He’s dating Harry Kim’s granddaughter, Kathryn. At least they call her Rynna, so we don’t go crazy when we’re all at the dinner table." 

"Is it serious?"

"As serious as most romances are at that age. You know, that still wasn’t the end of the story."

"I guessed it wasn’t. You look like you have something more on your mind."

Her mouth tugged far to one side. "You see why I don’t play poker. Bear with me, it might take me a little while to work up to it. You know that they taught at the Academy for two years. That was really an excuse to get caught up on everything that happened while they were gone. The Dominion War changed more than the political atmosphere of the Federation; it produced a tremendous number of technological advances as well. By now you understand Kathryn Janeway well enough to know she wouldn’t take another command until she felt she had mastered them all."

He finished the last of his coffee. The sun was well up now, and the air was beginning to feel steamy, more like Louisiana. "Yes, but I never had the feeling that the Slayton assignment was her idea. It seemed to come up very quickly."

"Yes and no. Starfleet kept it under wraps until the negotiations for safe passage were concluded, but she knew for over a year it was her mission." Katie began walking again. The path led them deeper into the shade, where the air was not quite so oppressive. "It might have been easier if that had been general knowledge. There were still those who thought she and Chakotay presented some kind of threat to the Federation."

"Or at least, to their vision of the Federation. Oh, I know. The trials were a setback for the Federation Firsters, but not the end of them. That came later, when Picard – but I'm getting off the subject. You were telling me about the Slayton mission."

"Yes. Originally my parents and brothers were slated to go on the Slayton. It was a Sovereign-class ship, with families."

"What happened?"

"How much do you know about my mother’s accident on Utopia Planetia?"

He mentally rifled through his files to come up with an answer. "Lt. Torres was testing a prototype for the enhanced warp engine when there was a breach. She was able to avert a total disaster, but there was a radiation leak of some kind and she was badly hurt."

"That’s right. Remember when it happened?"

"Let's see, it was … it was just before the Slayton left, wasn't it?"

"Three days. Mom was too badly hurt to go, but the mission couldn't be postponed. The Founders had set a rigid timetable." She stopped and turned to face him. "What most people don’t remember is that Captain Janeway was supposed to be present at that test. She was actually at the shipyards when she got word that her mother had collapsed and she returned to Earth." She shot Jake a sideways look. "Did you ever read the report on the cause of the accident?"

Jake shook his head.

"It wasn’t an accident. The investigators found evidence of a small device in the debris. They figure it was on a timer and slowly sliced its way through the warp containment baffle. The only reason my mother was able to prevent a complete core breach – which would have destroyed virtually all of the shipyards – was that she arrived earlier than scheduled and found the problem before it was irrevocable. She was early because she didn’t have to go through the formal process of briefing Captain Janeway. If things had gone on schedule, it would have been too late by the time they reached the laboratory."

He stared. "Are you saying it was a deliberate attempt to kill Captain Janeway?"

"It was deliberate sabotage, that’s official. And no one in the Federation First movement would have wept if Kathryn Janeway had died."

***  
_Dear Tom,_

_We couldn't get any leeway with the launch date. We have to leave tomorrow or not at all. There's too much at stake to cry off now. This is our chance to prove to the Founders that we can be trusted to co-exist with them. I know you can't leave B'Elanna and the boys – I wouldn't let you even if you suggested it. I've spoken to Admiral Riordan, and you can have an assignment as a Flight Instructor at the Academy or a test pilot at the Perth facility if you want. B'Elanna can remain at Utopia Planetia or take an HQ assignment once she's back on her feet._

_By now you know the accident wasn't an accident at all – but I don't think B'Elanna was the target. I don't even think they were after the shipyards. It may sound paranoid, but I think they were after me. There have been some threats, but I didn't take them seriously. Since we'll be in the Gamma quadrant for 5 years, you should be safe – by removing ourselves, we are removing the threat to our families._

_You and B'Elanna and the boys are our family, Tom. A lot can happen in five years; maybe they’ll find someone else to hate, or maybe the Federation will finally find the will to rid itself of those who deal out death in the name of freedom. Give the boys a kiss for us, and tell B’Elanna we love her. Take care of them, and of yourself._

_Kathryn_  
***

"She was right, by the time they got back, the danger had passed. They could have stayed on Earth, or taken a short-term mission closer to home, but the Slayton mission just whetted their appetite for exploring. When they got back, the Magellan project was underway and they volunteered." Katie stopped. The path had led them to a small pond, with a wrought iron bench beside it. She sat down and patted the other end for Jake.

"The planning process took nearly three years. It was the most ambitious exploration mission yet undertaken by Starfleet and resolving the design of the generational ship took years by itself. They lived here at the farm, but they spent a lot of time with my parents. The four of them had always had a special relationship, but during that time they became closer than ever. My brother Harry remembers it well, because he thought the sun and the moon rose and set with Chakotay. T.J. was younger, but he remembers the way Kathryn used to help him with his arithmetic. They were family."

She paused and looked at something on the other side of the pond. "Funny, I thought this would be easier."

"Take your time," Jake told her. "I’m not in a rush."

"Thanks. I should probably just tell you about that night. The way my parents told me about it."

***  
_It was long past sunset, and Tom had lit the torches so that the balcony was illuminated by the soft firelight. He and B’Elanna were sharing a chaise, snuggled together with his arms around her. Kathryn and Chakotay sat side by side in comfortable chairs. They were all relaxed, the result of an excellent dinner and copious amounts of wine. "So, was it a happy birthday, Kathryn?" B’Elanna asked._

_"Very. It was a lovely dinner."_

_"Then you can return the favor for B’Elanna’s birthday," Tom said. "Or better yet, just come babysit our hellions so we can get away."_

_Kathryn and Chakotay looked at one another, and B’Elanna straightened up. "Uh oh. What’s up, you two?"_

_It was Chakotay who answered. "We won’t be here for your birthday, B’Elanna."_

_"You’ve got a launch date." She said it flatly, knowing it was fact._

_He nodded. "September 29."_

_"So soon?"_

_Kathryn smiled sadly. "It feels quick, doesn’t it? But we’ve been waiting almost three years for that date."_

_"It’s not too late if you want to come with us," Chakotay said quickly. "A lot of the old crew has signed on. Seven is coming, and we’ve just about got the go ahead to bring the Doctor with us. And Neelix is coming as head cook."_

_Tom looked envious in the flickering light. "I wish we could. Circumnavigating the galaxy – it’s an amazing mission. But –"_

_"But we can’t. Between my mother’s illness, and Owen’s stroke, and Harry’s spacesickness, we can’t leave now." B’Elanna looked as if she were on the verge of tears. "Oh, gods, we’ll never see you again."_

_"Don’t start," Kathryn said, her voice tight. "There’s time enough for that later."_

_T_ _he younger woman took a deep breath, and then looked at her husband. "I don’t think we should wait."_

_His eyes widened, then he nodded slowly. "You’re right."_

_"Wait for what?" Chakotay asked._

_"We need to ask a favor," B’Elanna said. "A huge favor."_

_"Anything, you know that."_

_"Maybe not this." She turned to Tom, unable to go further._

_"Ever since we realized we couldn’t go with you," he began awkwardly, "B’Elanna and I have been talking. As long as we’re stuck here, we would really like to have another baby. The thing is – "_

_"I can’t," she said bluntly. "At least, I can’t conceive one. The radiation from the accident damaged my DNA. I’m ok, but any child I conceive would have such extensive defects that it likely wouldn’t survive."_

_"Oh, B’Elanna."_

_"We’ve talked about adopting but –" she looked to Tom again._

_"But what we would really like –" he broke off and shook his head. "Damn, this is hard. Ok, flat out: we’d like to have your baby."_

_There was a moment of silence. Finally B’Elanna broke it. "I can still carry a child to term. We’ve been approved for genetic donors because of the circumstances. We could get an anonymous donation but this way, if you agree, we…we’d have you with us even after you leave." Her voice became choked, and she stopped talking._

_Kathryn blinked twice, looking stunned. "Well, you’ve certainly caught me by surprise."_

_"I know it’s a lot to ask-"_

_Kathryn waved her hand. "No, it’s just that, well, I’d given up on the idea of having children. By the time we’re far enough away from Starfleet to come out in the open with our relationship, it will be too late for us. We’d reconciled ourselves to that." She looked at Chakotay, who was quite still. "Could you leave a child behind?"_

_Very slowly, he nodded. "I think I would like to know that somewhere there is a child who is part of us. The best of us. And there is no one I would trust more to give our child a loving home."_

_"It’s not exactly the way I pictured it," she said._

_Then he grinned, and caught her hand in his. "Kathryn, from the day I met you, nothing has gone exactly as I pictured it. And I wouldn’t change a day of it."_  
***

"That’s the way Mom – B’Elanna – told me the story."

Jake stared at the woman on the other end of the bench. He studied the auburn highlights in the dark hair, the fine, strong bones of her face, and the dimples when she smiled. Equal portions Janeway and Chakotay. And yet, there was something of Tom Paris’s humor in her eyes and the grace of B’Elanna Torres in her movements. "You have your father’s eyes," he said at last.

"Now you’ve got it right," she said, with a slight smile. A bolt of lightning split the sky a few miles away, followed by thunder loud enough to shake the ground. "We’d better get back."

They hurried up the path, through trees that were beginning to swish in the wind. Although he was in excellent shape for a man of his years, he was no longer accustomed to running and he was breathless when they made it up to the porch. No sooner were they safely under the roof when the rain began.

Katie Paris laughed as she looked out at the deluge. "It’s a good, old-fashioned Indiana thunderstorm. God, I miss these. That’s one thing about living on starships – you just can’t get good weather. The holodecks never get it exactly right."

"No, they don’t." He breathed deeply, trying to slow his heart. He needed to take up jogging again. "Are you sure you want me to use this, Katie? It probably will disrupt your life."

She shrugged. "The people who are important to me already know. Dad agrees, it’s time. Anyway, ‘that which we are, we are.’ No point in trying to hide it."

Jake smiled. "Tennyson?"

"It fits, don’t you think?"

"I’ll say this, Katie – you know how to finish a story."

"Oh, it’s probably not over yet. I like to think of them out there-" she gestured to the swollen, gray sky – "doing what they always did best and made them the happiest. Exploring. Together."

Jake nodded, imagining the gleaming starship amid uncharted stars, visualizing the man and the woman standing shoulder to shoulder on the command deck. "You're right. ‘To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths of all the western stars.’ That is what they were meant to do. That is where they belong."

-The End -


End file.
